Iron hands and fragile roses
by CrazyNutSquirrel
Summary: What if Sonic's werehog form was seperate from him, and had a mind and will of it's own? How confusing. Read and review please, no flames. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

Iltinis Jarnhand. That was his name. His look though... wasn't really his own, completely. It was the look that one annoying blue blur had had when he had had part of Dark Gaia's energy in him. Whee.... everyone likes a werehog don't they? They are SO original of course. Not. Iltinis Jarnhand understood that the idea of a werehog was redundant. He knew that werewolves are humans who turn into wolves or wolf-like creatures on nights of the full moon. And a werehog should have been a human turning into a hedgehog or hedgehog-like creature at night.

Not an anthropomorphic hedgehog turning weird. Unfortunately though, he was stuck in this form. And even though he knew this much... he was still confused. Ripped from Sonic's body, then catapulted out of Dark Gaia's not too long afterwards. It was so confusing to the poor creature who was now a werehog by night or day. And this had caused him to firmly believe that Sonic was evil.

Why? He had no idea. He just knew Sonic was evil, and that was the end of it. Speaking of Sonic... Iltinis had the distinct impression that Sonic was somewhere nearby. And so the creature opened his eyes (his own eyes, not Sonic's) for the first time. The world looked like it was tinted blue, with things that actually were blue showing up a little more vividly than other things. And rolling onto his side he saw...... oh no. Iltinis scrambled upright and darted backwards. Water.

He knew he could swim, but it was _water_... he shuddered. Here was another thing to blame Sonic for. This fright of water. He slowly reached out one clawed hand and dipped a claw in. A ripple spread outwards from where he had touched the water. He heard a scream and looked up to see a seal swimming away as fast as she could. Iltinis understood without having to be told that he was the reason the seal was frightened. "Wait..." His voice was a low one, powerful, with a bit of a growl to it.

But the seal was already gone. Iltinis retreated under the shadow of the trees, as if the sunlight was suddenly burning him. For a moment under the trees he heard a voice that was strangely familiar saying asking if he wanted some chocolate, but when he looked, no one was there. And for some reason this made him feel lonely. He paused in his running (strange running it was too, he was using his hands to run as well) and howled up at the morning sun.

***

That same day, Sonic had finally agreed to go get some ice cream with Amy at least. She wasn't insisting on calling it a date, but she was just as happy as she would have been if he had called it one. "So Sonic, what's your favorite flavor?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"Chocolate I guess." He said, a brief memory of Chip (who actually turned out to be Light Gaia) went through his head. The bracelet around his wrist, that had once been around Chip's neck, seemed to brighten in the sunlight.

"Mine's raspberry, and maybe bubble gum." Said Amy, smiling. Sonic gave her a halfhearted smile, his mind was now elsewhere. Amy's smile slowly slipped off her face as she realized that. She gently touched his arm. "Did you want me to get the ice cream so you can think for a bit?" Sonic nodded, looking at the water by the city they were at. Then he felt it, a familiar presence, somewhere near. But he couldn't place it.

Then he heard a howl in the distance. Amy had come back with their ice cream remarkably fast, so she was with Sonic when he heard it. "What was that?" She asked nervously.

"I don't know, why don't we check after we finish our ice cream?" The blue blur suggested this before he started licking the ice cream cone Amy had brought for him. She nodded.

"Sure." She started on her raspberry ice cream, staring out in the direction the howl had come from.

***

Somewhere safe, that's what Iltinis needed. Somewhere that wasn't easy to find. Of course, that meant that it would be hard to find it himself the first time. After what seemed like ages to him (mainly because something told him to get rid of his tracks as he went) he found a rather nice cave that was hard to climb up to. Not so hard for him though, he just dug his claws into any cracks he found, and the spikes on his shoes straight into the rocks, and he could go straight up, without having to take the winding path that would have led up to it otherwise.

Once he was safe inside the small cave he curled up near the back, his ears twitching occasionally, and fell asleep. But he was a light sleeper, he'd wake up if he heard someone on the path near the cave. He wouldn't be taken by surprise.

***

"Where were you Sonic?" Asked Tails, when Sonic and Amy got back.

"We were looking around the forest, we heard howling and decided to check it out."

"Did you find anything?" Asked Knuckles.

"No." Said Amy. "I think we should look again tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" Asked Sonic, grinning mischievously. "Why not tonight?" Tails laughed while Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"Sure Sonic, I'll get some night vision goggles for us."

"Who says I'm coming?" Asked Knuckles.

"If you don't come, you're a chicken." Said Sonic, smirking. Knuckles gritted his teeth.

"I am _not_ a chicken."

"Then come." Knuckles sighed.

"Fine, but if anything happens it's totally your fault."

***

Night time. It was much safer now. He ventured out of his cave and into the forest. Then, past that, into the town. He blinked and looked around. He could hear the sounds of sleeping people. Yes, night time was much safer, and for the people too. They wouldn't have to see him this way.

Tails had put heat scanners into the night vision goggles, and had happened to be looking Iltinis's way when he entered the town. Tails's eyes widened and he glanced over to where Sonic and Amy where talking, then back at where Iltinis was. How in the world was this possible? Had someone else become a werehog as well...? Meanwhile, Iltinis had noticed Sonic and Amy. His eyes widened slightly and a low rumble started in his chest, ascending and finally settling in the back of his throat.

Sonic and Amy looked around. Then, Iltinis sprang, snarling, at Sonic. Sonic yelped as the creature somehow managed to dislocate his shoulder. Iltinis's claws left some deep gouges on Sonic's side. Iltinis had also bitten the hedgehog's shoulder. Then he turned to Amy, his fangs still dripping. Amy didn't have time to scream before Iltinis swept her into his arms and bounded away, one of his arms stretching so his hand could grab a tree branch. In seconds, all was silent.

Tails and Knuckles rushed over to Sonic. "Are you okay?" Knuckles asked as he fixed Sonic's arm. The hedgehog yelped as the echidna's gloves brushed his wounded side.

"Y... yeah..... where's Amy...?" Then the hedgehog passed out.

***

Amy had screamed once, then fallen silent. Her fear was now of the more quiet type, she had seen what Iltinis had done to Sonic, what if he was going to eat her? When they arrived back at Iltinis's cave, he gently put her down. She ran to the mouth of the cave and looked to see if there was a way for her to escape. Her kidnapper's hand took hold of one of her wrists. "Careful, you might fall."

She was surprised, not just by the words, but by the sound and tone of his voice. His voice didn't sound as harsh as she had expected. To her ears it was rather nice. And the tone of his voice was one of concern. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"You kidnapped me!" Was the first thing that Amy could say, and it was said in an embarrassingly shrill voice. She sounded panicky, Amy hated sounding panicky. Iltinis blinked.

"I rescued you." He said simply.

"Rescued me? From what?!" Amy was about to continue ranting and add that he had injured _poor_ Sonic, but Iltinis replied before she could.

"I rescued you from Sonic." She stared at him, her jaw hanging open. Iltinis busied himself with putting some leaves together in a sort of nest-like structure for her to sleep in while she processed what he had said.

"You rescued me from _Sonic_....? I didn't _need_ to be rescued from him! Whatever gave you the thought that you needed to?"

"He's evil." Said Iltinis, growling slightly.

"No he isn't! I'm going to marry him someday and...."

"... and it'll be a dark day if you do." He growled, then something occurred to him. "Why aren't you scared of me?"

"Scared of you?" Iltinis suddenly became shy. He nodded. "Why on Earth would I be scared of you?"

"Well... I saw someone this morning and they were scared of me. I thought everyone would be." Amy couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

"I don't know why you don't scare me at the moment. You did scare me though when you had blood on your fangs." Iltinis went red.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to frighten you. I just wanted to make sure he couldn't follow us. I went a little too far I think..." Before Amy could start saying he had gone way too far, Iltinis tugged her towards the nest. "Go to sleep now, you aren't nocturnal so you need your rest." Amy was on the nest before she could protest, and once she was on it she was so comfortable....

"What's your name anyway? I'm Amy Rose...." She said, yawning and blinking to stay awake.

"Iltinis Jarnhand."

"What's that supposed to mean....?"

"Fang Ironhand." Said Iltinis, watching with interest as she nodded and fell asleep.

**This is an old little idea I had, I wrote it out awhile ago but it didn't work, so I rewrote it and this first chapter is the result. Of course, there shall be more, that is completely obvious. Anyway, it seems Iltinis doesn't like Sonamy. At least, that's what my impression was. XD I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Disclaimer: Rescuing Amy from Sonic... now THAT might be an original gem you've thought up there CNS.**

**Thanks Disclaimer. Anyway, R&R and tell me what you think. ^_^ No flames, I've got a friend who enjoys things with "thrower" in the title, so she uses flame throwers, or a little invention of hers called a water thrower, which she sometimes puts bits of ice in. Trust me, it hurts. Don't make her use it. ;) Anywho, I'll try to get another chapter up soon.**

**Disclaimer: Warning, if you don't like nicknames like "Fluffy", don't read the next chapter. That's what Amy's nickname for Iltinis is. .**

**I think it's cute. Anyway, by before I start rambling on and make this author note any longer than it already is!**


	2. Chapter 2

When she woke up, she panicked. She wasn't at home in her soft, comfortable bed! Then she remembered what had happened last night, she groaned. Saved from Sonic.... what a nightmare..... A sound made her look up. Iltinis was coming into the cave, looking at her curiously. "Did you sleep well?" She nodded, noticing that he looked quite tired. Apparently he hadn't slept.

"Why do you look so..."

"Tired?" She nodded again.

"I didn't get any sleep." Suspicions confirmed, Amy now felt free to ask him any other question that came to mind. She watched him starting a small fire, and noticed him blush whenever he looked at her and noticed she was watching.

"Where do you come from?" She finally asked.

"Dark Gaia."

"Oh, wouldn't you be evil then?" Iltinis shook his head vigorously.

"First I was part of Dark Gaia, then I became part of Sonic, he hated me, and then I became part of Dark Gaia again."

"Then why are you up here?" Asked Amy, ignoring what Iltinis said about Sonic.

"I was thrown out." He said simply. The werehog was just staring at the flames now. Amy wondered what was going through his head, but if she had known, she would have wished she didn't. This was mainly because Iltinis was thinking about Dark Gaia, and through a few memories he'd carried from Dark Gaia, some times the world was destroyed before.

Other than that, he was also trying to figure out why he thought Sonic was evil. He'd tried to think of it the night before, but he started getting a headache, so he went to hunt close by. Now there wasn't a headache, but plenty of confusion. There seemed no reason for him to think that Sonic had malicious intentions, but part of him insisted that the speedy blue hedgehog did.

Maybe it was Dark Gaia's influence. He blinked, he was distracted from his mental turmoil by Amy. "Iltinis, do you mind if I call you Fluffy?" Iltinis stared at her for a second, not able to respond. When he finally managed to register what she had said, he gave her a blank look.

"Why would you want to call me Fluffy?"

"Well... you are. And it's easier to say that for me." Iltinis frowned slightly, giving her a questioning look, but he shrugged.

"Alright, sure." Amy beamed. They sat there in relative silence again, until Amy thought up another question.

"Can we go to town so I could get someth..."

"No." Said Iltinis, a little too abruptly.

"Why not?" Asked Amy.

"Don't you remember what I said about people? Besides, _Sonic_ is there." Amy's expression became a determined one, she must reach her Sonic and see if he was okay! And Iltinis knew this was going through her head, just by looking at her face. Inwardly he sighed. He wanted to protect her from Sonic. A memory from Sonic gave him the impression that the blue hero didn't like Amy the way she liked him.

"Well if you won't take me then I'll go myself." How predictable. Iltinis sighed and stood up, stopping her.

"I'll take you then." He said, trying to stifle a yawn. Amy smiled.

"Thanks Fluffy." He could only hope she wouldn't call him that in front of Sonic. He nodded.

"Climb on."

"Climb on? What do you mean?" Oh great... this was going to take longer.

"Get on my back, it will be safer for you that way."

"Oh!" She climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on as tightly as she dared. Luckily, Iltinis was able to put up with it.

Iltinis's POV:

As soon as I was sure she wasn't going to fall off, I ran out of the cave and jumped into midair. I expected her to scream and deafen me, but she didn't. I had to resist the urge to turn my head and look at her. Concentration was needed to land right. As soon as I came close enough, I stretched out one of my hands and grabbed a tree branch, swinging forwards and downwards towards another one. Reach, grab, swing, let go, repeat. Soon enough we were on the forest floor. Then my hands went to the ground and I started running towards the town.

Amy's grip tightened slightly, was she scared of something? My ears twitched, I couldn't hear anything that was potentially dangerous. I couldn't smell anything indicating anything dangerous either, just...... greenery, the sort of smell that comes to the air after rain fall. And I could smell a river too, part of me wanted to go check it out and get a drink, but if I did, Amy would probably strike out for the town and get lost.

So I sped up a bit, and soon I could see the town through the trees. I slowed down until I came to a halt, dead leaves and moss under my fingers.

End Iltinis's POV.

"I'll wait here while you go." Said Iltinis after Amy had climbed off. She frowned.

"Why?"

"People." He stretched out on the ground, sort of like a large cat and rested his chin on his forearms, closing his eyes. Fully prepared to take a nap. Amy was having none of it.

"You are coming with me whether you like it or not!" Her hammer appeared in her hand. Luckily, the few memories that Iltinis had from Sonic warned him to do what Amy said, or risk tons of pain.

"Alright alright..." He muttered, getting up and brushing himself off, getting bits of moss, dead leaves, and a couple of insects out of his fur. Amy looked horrified.

"How can you stand having bugs in your fur?" He gave her a strange look.

"I don't know, but it's alright for them to be there isn't it?" Amy just shook her head and sighed.

"Come on, maybe we can get some ice cream."

***

"I'm telling you I'm _fine_! We have to find Amy." Said Sonic, walking down the street, his arm was fine yes, but his neck and side were bandaged. Knuckles and Tails hurried after him.

"Sonic, you are in no fit condition to..."

"Knuckles look!" Tails pointed towards the edge of town. The echidna's jaw dropped as he noticed Iltinis accompanying Amy, looking uncomfortable. No one else had noticed them yet.

"I'll go talk to them." Hissed Knuckles. "Keep Sonic distracted."

"Okay." Knuckles ducked into a side road while Tails flew to Sonic. "Sonic, would you at least stop for a moment to listen?"

"Alright little bro, but be quick about it okay?"

"Of course Sonic."

***

"... well we'll just have to find out what your favorite flavor is then."

"Amy!" The pink hedgehog turned and saw Knuckles. She grinned.

"Hey Knuckles!"

"What in the world are you doing?!"

"What do you mean?"

"Walking into town with that guy is going to get the locals screaming, and Sonic will probably want a rematch."

"I'll break his arm if that happens. And his other side is going to get some nasty gouges as well." Growled Iltinis, smirking slightly. Knuckles looked at him.

"I saw you last night but I don't believe that we have officially met."

"No, Fluffy and you haven't." Iltinis groaned.

"Amy please!"

"Sorry sorry!" She giggled.

"Your name is _Fluffy_?"

"No, that's Amy's nickname for me. I'm Iltinis Jarnhand."

"And that would mean....?"

"Fang Ironhand." By now they were in the side street with Knuckles, out of Sonic's sight. Knuckles held out his hand, luckily, Iltinis guessed that he should shake it, not bite it. He carefully did so. Knuckles smiled.

"Well Iltinis, I'm Knuckles the echidna. As far as I know, I am the last remaining member of my kind, aside from Tikal, but she's immortal so..." He shrugged. Iltinis had no idea who Tikal was, so he just nodded politely.

"I'll get some ice cream now, I'll get you my favorite flavor and you can see if you like it Fluffy. Did you want some ice cream Knuckles?"

"No thanks." Amy headed off.

"She's going to go straight to Sonic after she's brought the ice cream." Predicted Iltinis. Knuckles nodded.

"But that's Amy for you. Why exactly did you accompany her? I thought you'd know people would be afraid of you if they saw you, and besides, Sonic would have attacked you too." Iltinis sighed.

"I didn't want her to get hurt." Knuckles nodded, and they both went quiet. Iltinis started brooding about Sonic again. Iltinis liked Amy, and Sonic was usually running from her or pushing her away, maybe that was why he thought Sonic was bad?

No... that wasn't a good enough reason. The idea that his feelings about Sonic were thanks to Dark Gaia came to mind again, but he dismissed it. Dark Gaia had known that Sonic was only protecting his friends, and that it wasn't time to destroy the world yet. But still, whether or not he was woken before it was time, Dark Gaia was supposed to try and destroy the world. That was Dark Gaia's only purpose.

He got lost on this thought pathway, he heard Knuckles gasp. "What?" Suddenly he had the feeling of his back straightening so he didn't have to be partially bent. He blinked.

"You're..." Knuckles seemed at a loss for words. Finally, he just pulled Iltinis onto the street and showed him his reflection. If people NOT screaming hadn't told him what had happened, the reflection did. He looked like a darker version of Sonic, except for the fact that he was slightly taller, and his fur was navy blue with white around the tips of his quills, or on his wrists. His fangs were longer (a little longer than the werehog's) and his eyes were black. He stared at himself.

So he wasn't supposed to stay a werehog all the time. He looked at a clock that was in the window of a store nearby. Nine o'clock. So maybe his transformation was a delayed reaction... but was it going to be permanent? He hoped not, he preferred his were form to this. He wasn't exactly sure why though. They went back into the side street and waited for Amy. When she finally arrived she stared at Iltinis.

"Who are you?"

"Iltinis." His voice was still the same. She jumped.

"But what happened to you?"

"I have no idea." He admitted.

"You look sort of like.... Dark Super Sonic." Iltinis thought about this for a moment. Maybe this Dark Super Sonic's negative energies had bonded with Iltinis's when he was part of Sonic, and being taken from Sonic had turned the negative energy against him, causing Iltinis to think Sonic was evil. He was aware of the beginnings of a headache before Amy handed him an ice cream cone. He stared at it.

"What do I do now?" He asked. Knuckles started laughing incredulously while Amy giggled.

"You lick the ice cream, silly!" Iltinis stuck out his tongue and did as Amy suggested. He grinned when he tasted the ice cream.

"This is quite good."

"Of course it is!" Iltinis didn't add that the only other thing he'd eaten was raw meat last night, he somehow knew that she wouldn't appreciate hearing that. He hadn't really tasted anything Sonic had eaten when he was part of him, which made eating a new experience for him. A wonderful experience.

Amy went to go see Sonic, who was right across the street now. Seeing as he was changed, and almost unrecognizable, Iltinis followed, and so did Knuckles. Sonic only realized Amy was there when she glomped him, he'd been distracted by talking to Tails. He yelped. "Easy Amy! I'm still hurt."

"Sorry Sonic." She said, loosening her grip a bit.

"How did you escape from that thing last night?" Iltinis's ears went flat against his head. Sonic looked up. "Who's this?"

"Iltinis Jarnhand. He... rescued me last night." Said Amy, not mentioning that Iltinis was the one who had abducted her in the first place.

"Nice to meet you!" Iltinis found he had to use a great deal of effort to just shake Sonic's hand and not try and pull Sonic's arm out of it's socket. Again.

"Hmm."

"Oh lighten up, you're sounding almost as moody as Shadow." A brief image of a black and red hedgehog flashed through Iltinis's head. He assumed that that was Shadow.

"So Amy, where did the werehog thing go?" Amy smiled slightly.

"A cave." She said evasively.

"Where exactly? We have to make sure it won't hurt you again...." Iltinis blocked out the rest of the conversation. This was another reason to hate Sonic. He wanted to wipe out Iltinis, he didn't refer to him as if he was living, "it" indeed. Even in werehog form he was obviously male. He became aware of Sonic asking him if he wanted to help find the werehog. He barely managed to stop himself from attacking Sonic then and there.

"The werehog has feelings and a life too Sonic, maybe it didn't abduct Amy for the reasons you think." And then he stalked off towards the edge of town. Then, out of sight, wishing he was a werehog again, he found that he transformed back. He blinked. He hoped that this meant he was able to change from werehog to hedgehog at will, it wouldn't do to be found as the werehog by Sonic. Not when he had practically said he wanted to exterminate Iltinis.

He settled into an easy lope and disappeared deep into the forest, on his way back to the cave.

***

"What was up with him?" Asked Sonic. Amy was surprised that she was feeling annoyed with Sonic.

"He appreciates all forms of life Sonic. I can't believe you started hinting that you wanted to kill the Werehog!"

"But Amy, how else are we going to stop it?"

"Why don't you go for talking to him?"

"Iltinis?"

"I said him because the werehog is male."

"Oh." Amy sighed.

"Sonic, next time, think before you speak." Then she went off to go find a phone she could use to call Cream. Knuckles looked after her for a moment, then turned to Sonic.

"That is probably the first time I have ever seen Amy get annoyed with you in that way. Be quiet so that I can commit this moment to memory."

"Oh shut up Knuckles." Sonic frowned and looked after Amy. What did she know about the werehog exactly? And where exactly was Iltinis from? He decided to investigate.

***

Iltinis slumped moodily against the wall of the cave. Even though he'd only known Amy for a night and a day, he missed her already. The cave felt somehow empty without her presence. He sighed. His knees were drawn up to his chest, and his elbows rested on them, his arms drooping down from there. His head tilted back against the cave wall, he turned his face towards the entrance and fell into a light sleep.

***

"Hi Cream!"

"Amy! Mr. Sonic said you were kidnapped last night."

"How about we meet up? Then I could tell you what happened."

"Okay, I'll see you at Rouge's in fifteen minutes?" Amy blinked.

"Why Rouge's?"

"Because she would probably want to hear about this too." Amy smiled, that made sense.

"Alright, see you there in fifteen minutes. Bye."

"Bye!" Amy hung up and sighed. Then she went to see if she could find Shadow, she knew he was somewhere close by, Knuckles had given her a note saying that before she went off, he'd managed to do so without Sonic or Tails noticing.

She smiled at that. Knuckles knew she probably wouldn't want to be around Sonic at that moment, which in itself was weird, but true. When she found the black hedgehog he was staring out across a lake with hooded eyes, sitting on a tree branch. One leg dangled and swung gently back and forth. "Hi Shadow!" He glanced at her, then went back to looking at the lake.

"What do you want Rose?"

"I was wondering if you could take me to Rouge's? Or somewhere near Rouge's place?"

"Very well." Shadow jumped down lightly, then pulled out a chaos emerald.

***

Iltinis blinked, he was sure he'd heard something, swiftly, he became a hedgehog, keeping the claws and facing the entrance, tensed. A bear appeared. Surprised, she reared on her hind legs, she was prepared to fight for this place she could use for hibernation later. Iltinis became a werehog and crouched, ready to attack. The bear came forward and roared in his face, covering him in spittle. He watched her unblinkingly, then he roared back at her and followed this up with a mock charge, he swiped at her and accidentally hit her.

She wouldn't be crippled though, which relieved him. She turned tail and ran. Iltinis slumped back against the wall, becoming a hedgehog again, not knowing he had been, and was still being watched.

**I got most of this done after I wrote the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. :) Because I certainly enjoyed writing it. R&R please.**

**Disclaimer: She doesn't own anything except Iltinis.**

**And guess what? I'm already writing the next chapter as I post this. ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow and Amy appeared with a flash of green in front of Rouge's house. "Thanks Shadow." Said Amy, smiling at him. Shadow shrugged. Then a thought occurred to Amy. "Wait, before you go, why did you bring me here?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What I mean is... you'd usually want a reason to do so, or you'd want to know what was in it for you."

"Rouge asked me to bring you, and if you hadn't come to find me, I was to come bring you to her house whether you liked it or not." Amy frowned.

"That doesn't answer my ques...." Then she grinned. "You like Rouge don't you?" Shadow gave her a look.

"Why would you assume that Rose?"

"Because you did it for her when she just asked."

"I don't need to have a reason for everything I do." Said Shadow before stalking off a short distance, then using chaos control.

"Oh you obviously like her Shadow." Said Amy to thin air.

"Shadow likes who?" Amy turned, Rouge had opened the door and was looking at her with interest.

"You."

"Oh yeah right, as if." Said Rouge, grinning. "Come on in sweetheart, Cream's mom drove her here so she got here faster." Amy went straight to the living room, where she hugged Cream.

***

As soon as Shadow had chaos controlled, Iltinis had shot straight up, his fur sticking out like a startled cat's. He had sensed that, and he somehow knew Amy was involved. Inwardly he groaned, what was he, a guard dog for Amy or something? He dashed to the cave mouth and hurled himself down towards the trees. Amy might be in danger after all.

***

"Well boss he's darted off in a hurry. I can't follow him soundlessly through the trees you know."

"Do you know why he dashed off then?"

"No, he isn't going to tell me is he? He has no idea that I'm watching him, just like you said it should be." The boss grumbled stuff about stupid lackeys.

"Did he say anything out loud though? Sometimes people talk to themselves, or to empty air. Or they just think out loud."

"Errr..... aren't the first and last thing the same thing boss?"

"GAH! Just answer the question!"

"He didn't."

"Well try and find where he went then."

"Yessir."

***

Sonic looked down at the trees. "If the guy's down there right now, there's no way we'd be able to see him."

"We're not hunting him Sonic, we're just finding his cave so we can talk to him."

"Yeah...." Sonic glanced back at Knuckles, who was looking down at the trees with the oddest look on his face. "What's up Knux?" The echidna jumped as much as one is able to when one is sitting down.

"Nothing. It just looks like it could be a place on Angel Island if you know what I mean." Sonic glanced down again.

"Yeah."

***

Iltinis arrived at Rouge's house, not knowing he'd arrived not too long after Amy finished telling Rouge and Cream what happened. He'd only known where Amy went because he had been able to follow her scent to the lake, then he'd followed it (it had been mixed with chaos energy and another scent, Shadow's, then) to Rouge's, where Amy's scent had become just her own again. Not feeling embarrassed about knocking on a total stranger's door and asking after Amy, he went up the steps and knocked.

Rouge opened the door and her eyebrows shot up. "Well hello there handsome. What can I do for you?" Iltinis blinked. His mind told him it was a compliment, but for some reason, he just couldn't register the fact.

"Is Amy here?"

"Sure she is." Rouge turned slightly. "Hey Amy! I think he's come to abduct you again." Warning bells went off in Iltinis's head. When Amy appeared she grinned.

"Hey Fluffy." Cream and Rouge giggled when his face went red.

"Amy...." He honestly had no idea why he'd given her permission to call him that.

"Well now that we know who you are Fluffy-boy, come on in." Said Rouge, stepping to the side.

"Uh... thanks." Iltinis came in and Amy hugged him.

"Why are you here anyway?" She asked when she stepped back. "It's not like you knew where Rouge's house was....."

"I didn't." Rouge raised her eyebrows again, but they didn't question him further. Rouge and Cream, knowing from Amy that he had had no idea what to do with ice cream until he'd been told, asked if he wanted to go shopping with them, promising that they'd go to the mall's food court after they were done. Iltinis experienced a slight feeling of unease, but didn't pay much attention to it. He agreed, and the girls grinned at each other.

"Well come on then handsome! We've got to get there now!"

"No time better than the present!" Amy grabbed his wrist and dragged him out behind Rouge and Cream. Iltinis kept up as best he could while still walking, but occasionally he'd trip because of her tugging and only her pulling him along kept him up until he could regain his footing. Some other pedestrians chuckled a bit as they watched, guessing that he was a boy who had recently got Amy as a girlfriend or something and had no idea what he was in for.

***

A distant ringing sounded through the base. Eggman was snoozing, his stomach sticking between the hem of his pajama top, and the top of his pajama bottoms. A couple of inches above his ankles were also visible. This was because one of his robots had pulled the sheet off, and in his sleep, Eggman was searching for it with his hands. "Doctor Eggman! Phone call for you!" The mad doctor jumped from the volume.

"GAH! I WAS SLEEPING!"

"Sorry Doctor but it's urgent!" Eggman grumbled but got some slippers on and walked (with a slight bounce) towards the control room, scratching his stomach and yawning as he did so. As soon as he picked up the phone though......

"WHAT DO YOU WANT AT THIS UNGODLY HOUR?!" There was a moment of silence as the person on the other end rubbed their ear.

"It's two in the afternoon Doctor."

"I'm still supposed to be asleep right now. I didn't get any sleep last night!"

"Okay then. Sorry to disturb your sleep. Trust me though, this will be worth getting up."

"How so?"

"Do you remember when you awoke Dark Gaia?"

"How can I not?" Muttered the doctor, remembering chasing after an impudent robot around the end of that little adventure.

"And do you remember what happened to Sonic when you awoke the great entity?"

"Yes why?"

"The form has become separate from both Sonic and Dark Gaia." Eggman was all ears now, this could mean opportunities for the Eggman Empire! "It is calling itself Iltinis Jarnhand. I'll send you the pictures we've taken of it." Eggman turned on a monitor and looked at the various images of Iltinis which flooded the screen. His eyes widened behind the glasses he always wore. "He can also transform." Pictures of Iltinis's other form filled the screen now. "He also seems to have an attachment to a hedgehog you might know."

"Not Sonic?" Eggman was incredulous, this had to be the strangest thing he'd ever heard of!

"No not Sonic, this one." A picture of Amy now filled the screen. Eggman chuckled evilly.

"Ah yes, Amy Rose. I've kidnapped her a few times."

"Well Iltinis kidnapped her too when he first met her." Eggman's eyebrows shot up.

"Why are you giving me this information? What's in it for you? Who are you in the first place?"

"A scientist like you, my research is funded by G.U.N., even though they might not know what I'm researching most of the time. I want you to capture Iltinis for me, so that I can conduct experiments on him, find out if he can be cloned. In return, you'll get my information on G.U.N. weapons and their weak points, the same goes for the larger G.U.N. robots. I feel your Eggman Empire would benefit my research, seeing as I'm sure you'd allow me to conduct experiments on whatever captives you had." Eggman smiled.

"Where's the catch in this?"

"There is no catch. I sincerely believe that your Empire becoming a reality would benefit this planet." Eggman thought for a moment.

"Deal. But what is your name?"

"You shall find that out later dear Doctor, as soon as I have Iltinis in my laboratory, you shall have my name." There was a click, and Eggman grinned. Images of his Eggman Empire floated before his eyes as he put back the phone and went to finish his nap, sending out some robots to spy on Iltinis.

***

Iltinis found that even though he didn't like the girls almost constantly having him put on and take off outfits, he did like the food court, which almost made the other stuff worth it. The girls bought the things he wanted to sample, and in the end, he found he liked most of the foods there. "Of course, lots of it is junk food, but it tastes good." Said Rouge, shrugging. Iltinis was puzzled. Wasn't junk garbage? He asked, and received a laugh and an explanation. When they finally went back to Rouge's, Vanilla picked Cream up and then Amy said good bye to Rouge and walked off. Iltinis followed her.

"Where is your house anyway?" He asked. Amy smiled.

"I'll show you." They walked for around ten more minutes, and then they came to a pink house. Amy unlocked the door and went in, setting down the bags that held the results of her shopping in them. Iltinis looked around, still standing outside. "You can come in Fluffy." Iltinis stepped inside and closed the door.

"So this is where you live?"

"Yeah. Did you want to stay for the night, it would be a lot more comfortable than being in that cave." Iltinis gave a small smile.

"Sure."

"You can sleep on the couch." Amy said, pointing to the pink thing. Iltinis looked at it for awhile, then sat down on it. At Rouge's, he hadn't actually sat down, so the comfortable feeling of sitting and leaning back on the couch was new for him. The surprise showed on his face. Amy giggled, guessing why he felt surprised. "Did you want something to drink?"

"Sure." Amy looked at him for a second, unless they'd been over for a sleep over, all her other guests would have asked her what drinks she had before saying sure.

"I've got apple juice, raspberry juice, orange juice, water, soda..."

"What do they taste like? I've had water before but none of the others." Iltinis was looking over her shoulder at the contents of the fridge curiously.

"Then I guess you've never had spaghetti either."

"No, what is it?" She laughed.

"Wait and see Fluffy, wait and see."

**Things are good for them aren't they? I wish I could have some sushi right now, or some toast, or cookies with lemon curd or something... ah well..... hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^_^ To tell the truth, I have no idea who Eggman was talking to either, and if I'm guessing correctly, I'm just as excited as you are about finding out who it is.**

**Disclaimer: Crazy owns nothing except the story idea, Iltinis, the lackey guy, and the boss guy who talked to Eggman.**

**Thanks Disclaimer, anyway, R&R please, and thanks for the reviews everyone! ^_^ I appreciate them.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Have I mentioned before just how much I love my reviewers? You're all so supportive. ^_^ And for your very nice review of my last chapter Unisis11, I decided to put down the chapter I was writing for another story, and write an update for this one instead. :P I hope you enjoy this chap!**

Iltinis found he liked spaghetti very much, and he also found that he enjoyed soda. He didn't like it when he first tried it, because some stray bubbles went up his nose (Amy had laughed when that happened), but found that when they didn't do that, the taste was pleasant.

Amy introduced him to televisions ("Why do you need a magic box to show you things that are happening when you can just go see them in person?"), and they watched a movie ("Why do most of these movies only have humans in them?"). When it was finally time to go to bed, Iltinis was quietly discovering the delightful taste of popcorn as Amy yawned and told him she was going to go to sleep. She told him where the bathroom was (and was relieved to find out that he knew about bathrooms, forgetting to ask how he knew about them in the first place) and then went to her room and shut the door.

Iltinis stretched out on the couch and quietly munched some popcorn, absently cracking something in the popcorn between his teeth. He looked out the window at the moon, a half-moon today. He felt the strangest urge to leave the house and go hunting. He sat up, but hesitated, something told him it wouldn't be a good idea. Amy would have no idea where he'd gone, he had no idea where he should hunt, and there was perfectly fine food where he was.

He sat up for a couple more hours, feeling restless. Finally, he fell asleep, but a frown was on his face as he tried to figure out why exactly he had felt the urge to leave the house.

***

It was a good thing he hadn't, the lackey of our mysterious scientist guy was lingering outside, trying to figure out where Iltinis might have gone. "Boss, there's no sign of him anywhere around here." He complained into his wrist communicator. His voice was hushed though, if anyone noticed him, they'd probably call the police and he'd have to flee.

"Then keep searching, if I'm correct, which I _always_ am, the moon should have drawn him out by now... if he can see it." Our mysterious scientist guy has an ego, and this doesn't really endear him to his minions, but it's either 'do as he says' or 'run for your life, you're gonna die'. And the lackey guy doesn't want to die. Yet.

"Sure boss, whatever you say." He clicked the communicator off, then had the strange feeling that Iltinis might be in the absurdly pink house across the street..... when he looked in the window though, Iltinis was going to the bathroom, so he wasn't there.

The lackey shrugged and walked on, missing Iltinis by seconds.

***

"Sonic, there's no point in staying here."

"He's obviously not coming back tonight."

"You two can go, but I'm staying until he comes." Knuckles sighed, Sonic could be _so_ stubborn.

"Sonic, let's visit Amy, Iltinis might appear there, and he would probably know how to find the werehog easily." Knuckles shot a sharp glance at Tails, who didn't suspect that there might be a connection between Iltinis and the werehog.

"Good idea!" Said Sonic, brightening. "Let's go then!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Knuckles asked Tails quietly.

"It'll allow the werehog to figure out that someone was in his cave, and he'll be prepared for someone arriving here." Knuckles shrugged, he didn't feel that Tails needed to know that the werehog was already fully aware that they had been by his cave. There wasn't any point after all....

***

Iltinis sat bolt upright as soon as he heard the feet approaching the door, he was waking up Amy when their visitors started knocking. Amy quickly put on a robe and went to answer the door as Iltinis went back to the couch to go back to sleep. "Sonic!" Iltinis's eyes, which had just closed, shot open again. What the hell was Sonic doing there?! He should have been at the cave waiting for the werehog!

"Hey Ames, we were wondering if we could hang here in case Iltinis came by......" Sonic caught sight of Iltinis, who was pretending that he had already fallen back asleep.

"He went shopping with me, Rouge, and Cream." Said Amy, shutting the door behind Team Sonic. "He came back here with me and we had dinner together, and since he had nowhere to go, we decided he'd stay here for the night." Sonic looked at Iltinis curiously.

"I find it kinda strange that he has nowhere to go when he's such a nice guy." Iltinis felt a little uneasy. Sonic thought he was a nice guy, would his opinion of him change when he found out who Iltinis was? And he also felt a little ashamed, he thought of Sonic as the enemy and had hurt him, but the hedgehog thought he was a nice guy. He almost blurted the truth there and then, but he stopped himself.

He didn't want to be rejected, hunted..... he didn't want to be alone. Since the first moment he'd talked to Amy, he found that he had a sudden, inexplicable fear of being on his own. The thought of having no one else to talk to was unbearable. He was shaken out of these thoughts by Sonic. "So Ames, you got any soda?" Amy giggled.

"Yup, only four though, Iltinis tried all the others."

"Oh? How'd he find them?"

"It was funny! He's never had soda before so the first time he tried it some bubbles went up his nose. You should have seen him snorting. But he ended up liking it and having six." Sonic and Tails laughed, Knuckles smiled, and Iltinis felt slightly irritable. What was so funny about him having bubbles go up his nose?

They moved into the kitchen and he lay there quietly, thinking about his options. He could run now, and later say he felt that he was intruding upon Amy's hospitality. He couldn't help but frown, that excuse felt transparent. And he didn't want to hurt Amy's feelings. But he stood up and walked quietly to the door. "Hey he's up!" Called Sonic over his shoulder, having noticed Iltinis getting up. Mentally, the werehog cursed.

"Did you want a soda?" Asked Amy, who couldn't even see Iltinis from where she was. Iltinis sighed.

"Sure Amy." He came over to them.

"Hey Iltinis, sorry 'bout what I said earlier." Iltinis nodded, accepting the apology, determined to keep his face blank. Knuckles gave him a half-smile.

"We're guessing that you decided to guard Amy since the last time we saw you." Iltinis shrugged.

"I just wanted to make sure she doesn't get into trouble." Sonic grinned.

"Great idea! Hey, would you help us find the werehog? And would you help us figure out what to say to him when we do see him?"

"Let's discuss that idea tomorrow okay? I haven't had much sleep." He quickly drank the soda Amy had handed him and then went to the living room, falling onto his stomach on the couch. He closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and sank into the darkness of sleep.

***

"Stealth bots! Move out, find this creature, I don't care what form he's in, just find him!" Eggman showed his robots the pictures of Iltinis, then added, "if he resists, just get Amy Rose, he'll cooperate if she's in danger." The robots nodded and left while Eggman rubbed his hands together. The Eggman Empire would soon be reality! He even started speculating what new outfit he should give himself as soon as he was emperor. Metal Sonic watched him with his cold red eyes.

And in the blink of an eye, he decided to go and observe this mission, to ensure that Iltinis was actually caught.

***

When Iltinis woke, it was because Sonic had poured a glass of water on his head. He lay there for a moment, then spoke, his voice muffled by the cushion his face was pressed against. "Was there any point to doing that?"

"Other than waking you up, no."

"I see." Iltinis sat up and blinked owlishly. "What time is it?"

"Late enough for us to have brunch instead of breakfast." Iltinis yawned, showing his fangs. Then he stretched backwards. Sonic's eyebrows went up. "Impressive fangs buddy." Iltinis gave the blue hedgehog a strange look.

"Thank you.... I guess." Knuckles and Tails appeared.

"So are we going yet? Amy is finally ready." Iltinis stood.

"I suppose I'm ready then."

"Your fur is damp though!"

"Thanks to you." Iltinis shook his head, sending water droplets flying. Then he yawned again. Knuckles and Tails stared at his fangs for a moment, then shook themselves and went back outside. Amy smiled at Iltinis.

"Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yeah I s'pose." Amy set off down the street, asking Iltinis what he wanted to eat. "Could we get pizza?" He asked hopefully, he'd heard good things about the food. Sonic burst out laughing.

"That would be an awesome brunch! Let's get chili dogs after that."

"Chili dogs? What are those?" Asked Iltinis.

"Only the most awesome food on the planet." Iltinis doubted this, thanks to the look on Knuckles's face, but didn't comment. A couple of minutes later, they were on their way to Cream's house, munching on pizza. Pizza was a new thing for Knuckles as well, to Iltinis's surprise. They both agreed that it was very delicious.

They could already see Cream's place when the stealth bots attacked. Iltinis realized they were being attacked first, he whirled, quickly stuffing the last bite of pizza into his mouth as he struck out, hitting a stealth bot. Knuckles quickly got two while Sonic spin-dashed a third. Tails pulled out a lazer gun and started picking and hitting targets as Amy struck all enemies with her hammer.

***

Metal Sonic's mouth would have twisted in scorn if he had a mouth. But as we know, he doesn't. So he had to be content with feeling superior to the stealth bots (he had every right to feel that way, seeing as he actually is superior to them) as he watched their efforts. Iltinis was interesting, after only a couple of minutes of observation, he realized that Iltinis didn't want Sonic or Tails (and possibly Knuckles) to know of his being a werehog. The robot had no idea that the echidna actually knew about Iltinis's identity.

Metal Sonic started planning his move as he watched the stealth bots being taken down. Those that had made themselves "invisible" were heard by Iltinis as they moved, suggesting that his hearing was very very good. As in, bat good. And he didn't stretch his arms or legs to give himself an advantage, he just brawled. Throwing kicks and punches, but not showing that he might have any other sort of power. Metal Sonic scanned through the files that the mysterious scientist had sent Eggman.

It turned out he didn't know anything about the extent of Iltinis's powers either, it was something he wanted to find out by experimenting on the werehog. Metal Sonic, if he had been an organic, would have been bothered by this. But he was a robot, and supposedly didn't "feel" anything. He chose a target and silently descended from the building top.

***

When Amy shrieked, Iltinis whipped around, instantly focusing on helping Amy. A stealth bot landed behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck, before Iltinis could throw it off and destroy it, Metal Sonic spoke. "Iltinis Jarnhand, Doctor Eggman has sent us to capture you as part of a deal he has made. Come quietly, or I shall be forced to harm Amy Rose. It is ridiculously easy to kidnap her, so don't think that you can agree to do as we say, then escape." Iltinis growled, tensing. Metal Sonic correctly guessed what he was going to do. "From the information I have gathered, you do not want your real identity revealed to your so called friends. If you try to save Amy from your current position, you will reveal yourself. If you do not come quietly and save Amy without your powers, I will reveal you."

Iltinis growled helplessly, there was no way out of this he could see. His shoulders sagged. "Let her go, and I'll come." He said quietly.

"You've got to be kidding Iltinis! We can save her, use your powers or whatever, it doesn't matter who you are, we won't reject you suddenly..." Iltinis's ears rose slightly from where they'd gone flat on his head. Metal Sonic crushed the little bit of hope that had risen in Iltinis at that thought.

"You are afraid of being alone and rejected Iltinis, Sonic would not be saying that if he guessed what you are. Submit, or Amy gets hurt." Iltinis nodded. The stealth bot marched him over to an alley where their ship was parked.

"Iltinis don't...!"

"He has chosen wisely." Said Metal Sonic, pushing Amy towards her friends. "You might see him again once the Eggman Empire is fully functional. Farewell heroes." Metal Sonic made sure they didn't approach the ship as it took off with Iltinis inside. Amy was furious.

"I can't believe he thinks you guys would reject him!" Then she looked at Sonic. "But I guess that that's not totally unjustified...."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Demanded Sonic.

"Well I suppose you've got to find out sooner or later....... you remember your comment about the werehog?"

***

Eggman looked at Iltinis as he was led in by Metal Sonic. "I don't remember sending you to capture him Metal Sonic."

"I went along to make sure that the mission was completed."

"We would have failed if he hadn't come Master." Said the stealth bot who had led Iltinis in.

"I see. Good work Metal Sonic, I'll give you an upgrade later." Then he turned to the computer and pressed a button. The face of a white echidna appeared.

"Have you captured..... ah you have. I shall be there soon to collect him."

"You said you'd tell me your name." Eggman looked at the echidna expectantly. His ally laughed.

"So I did. I shall tell you then, I keep my promises to my allies." He paused. "I am Dr. Finitevus."

**Ha ha, I couldn't resist. Finitevus seemed soooooo perfect for this for some reason. :) I feel very sorry for Iltinis though. :( Poor guy!**

**Disclaimer: .... you do remember that you can have it so he ISN'T caught, or so that he escapes and they beat Eggman and Finitevus so Amy will be safe right?**

**Yeah, but that would ruin the story! Anyway, R&R please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh I LOVE my reviewers alright. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: She's been going on about the nice reviews she's had for the last two chapters for ages. ¬¬**

Finitevus stepped carefully from his hovercraft, smiling at Eggman, revealing disturbing teeth. They were disturbing because they were pointy. Which meaaaaaaans his smile made him look like he was thinking that Eggman might be a delicious snack. "Hello doctor." He held up a disc. "This holds all the information you shall need on the G.U.N. weapons and robots I have worked on. Would you like to check it before I take Iltinis?"

"Of course!" Eggman hurried over to the computer and popped it in, anxiously watching the screen while Finitevus examined Iltinis. When the echidna's cold metal covered hand lifted his chin, his ears flattened back against his head and he bared his teeth in a snarl.

"Perfect, it actually is him." He said, he pulled a small gadget out of a hidden pocket and shone it in Iltinis's eyes. The werehog pulled back, blinking rapidly. "Interesting, the pupils are rimmed with dark purple, but the actual irises are black..." Finitevus let go of his hold on Iltinis's chin and stood, deep in thought as Iltinis looked at him warily. It was good that Amy was safe, but was it really worth this...? Eggman gave a cry of absolute glee as the disc proved to hold what Finitevus said it would.

"You can have Iltinis now." Said Eggman, waving a hand at Finitevus.

"Thank you doctor, I shall inform you when I have discovered if I can clone the werehog successfully."

"Good good..." Said Eggman absently, already planning what he could do with the information his strange ally had brought him. As Iltinis was guided onto the ship, a surge of fear went through him without warning. He struggled, eyes wide, as he tried to stay off the ship. Finitevus leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"Amy is telling them what you are, you'll never be accepted among _them_ again." They both knew who he meant by "them". Iltinis's shoulders sagged and he allowed himself to be half led, half dragged onto the ship.

***

"So he's... he's the werehog?" Asked Sonic.

"Yes." Said Amy, sighing. Sonic felt extremely guilty now that he knew the whole story. It explained why Iltinis had become irritated and left the first day, and it explained why Iltinis hadn't wanted to discuss the werehog last night.

"I'm so sorry..." He whispered.

"Tell that to him when we see him next." Amy stood.

"Where are you going?"

"We've got to rescue him! I'm going to tell Shadow about this."

"And what can Shadow do?" Asked Tails. "What can he do that we can't?"

"He can get a list of who might possibly contact Eggman so they could get a hold of Iltinis."

***

Shadow was rarely in his office, seeing as he felt that if he stayed in there too long, the Commander would try and press him into a desk job...... a job involving way too much paper in his opinion. If he were the sort of person who shuddered, he might have, but there were other things to think about as well. The cell phone the Commander had insisted he keep with him at all times (and which he hardly ever had), was ringing.

The caller was Amy, he could tell because of the number. But what he didn't get was how in the world she had got the number for his phone. Sighing, he flipped it open and pressed the green button. "Hello?"

"Hi, Shadow. Could we come meet you at your office? I've got a favor to ask."

"Why do we have to meet at my office?"

"So that the favor can be completed faster."

"Tell me Rose, why should I agree to this, and your favor?"

"Just a sec." He heard her speaking to Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails in a muffled voice, telling them to go away for a bit. "I'll get Rouge to go on a date with you if you do." Shadow's eyes narrowed dangerously and his ears flattened against his head.

"Rose, that is called blackmail." He growled.

"Well your fur is black! I can't whitemail you can I?" Shadow blinked. What in the world was whitemail? "So.... is it a deal?" Shadow growled something under his breath, then finally agreed.

***

Iltinis looked around his new "home", feeling detached from it. Amy had told them. Why? Didn't she know that they'd avoid him like the plague once they knew. Then a thought occurred to him: maybe Amy wasn't his friend at all. This was thoroughly depressing, and he became completely detached from what was happening to him as he got wrapped up in these less-than-happy thoughts. Finitevus lead him into a room then pushed him forward while he pressed a button. Walls that looked like they were made of glass rose from the floor and trapped him in a square in the center of the room. Iltinis turned an empty stare upon Finitevus. "I will be back for you later Iltinis."

The scientist turned. "FRANK!" When no one appeared immediately, Finitevus's eyes narrowed. "Where is that no good toad sucking, television obsessed cat?!" He stormed off to look for his mysterious lackey-guy, who wasn't so mysterious anymore. Iltinis curled up on the floor, which was stone, and thus, cold. Luckily though, his fur was warm, so he wasn't too bothered. What bothered him was the thoughts going around his head. 'Cause let's face it. If they didn't reject him, then they might try to save him. And if they rescued him, Amy would get kidnapped later and hurt! Unless..... unless he could get Finitevus, Eggman wouldn't have to complete the deal if Finitevus wasn't there.

This was (in his mind) a rather far-fetched idea, but he needed _something_ to cling to.... didn't he?

***

Shadow sat silently in the swinging chair behind his desk. He reminded Sonic of a principle. Luckily, the hedgehog was already grinning, so this thought didn't get him into any trouble. The black hedgehog had heard their story, and was thinking about it. After a couple of minutes, he leaned forward. Sonic had to stifle a chuckle at the thought that Shadow looked like he was about to deal out detentions. "So..... you want me to get you this list, then march right to the Commander and demand that he help you locate your friend?"

"I wouldn't put it in those words, but yes." Said Amy. Shadow sighed and leaned back.

"Rose, the Commander and I aren't the best of friends, and did it occur to you that the Commander might want to experiment on your friend himself?"

"I know you aren't, but I think your secret being revealed to Sonic is worth it. Don't you?" Shadow's ears flattened and he snarled.

"Stop trying to blackmail me Rose!" Amy examined her nails.

"Stop making me have to. And about the Commander experimenting on Fluffy. He can't, if he does, I'll tell the President."

"I doubt he'd allow you to see the President if that was the case."

"Oh I have my ways." Said Amy, grinning at him. Shadow gave her a sour look. Green eyes met red, and stared at each other for a very long time. Sonic fidgeted, Knuckles quietly talked to Vector via wrist communicator, to make sure that the Master Emerald was all right, and Tails tinkered with his own wrist communicator.

"Fine, but you've got to stop blackmailing me."

"Sure." Said Amy, waving her hand at him, implying that she wouldn't blackmail him with Rouge anymore, but she'd find something else to use. Shadow muttered profanities under his breath and turned on the computer that had been put into the room when it became his office.

***

Finitevus glared at Frank, who was snoring on a couch. "I leave him to watch the security cameras, and he instead channels into that stupid Hoshi no Kaabii show!" A random swarm of Kirby fans rushed through the door, stomped over Finitevus, then rushed out another door. "And they got in here because he wasn't watching the security cameras." Finitevus muttered furiously as he stood up. He used a warp ring so that he could grab a bottle of water, then he opened the cap, and dumped it all on Frank's head. The cat yelped.

"DON'T HURT ME!"

"I'll do more than hurt you! I'll kill you! I just got trampled by some insane fans! They ruined my insanity master cloak, it's covered in muddy footprints! And they bruised my precious insane self!" Said Finitevus. In his mind, it was a capital crime for anyone to stomp on him, he was an insane genius, other insane people weren't allowed to touch him, but he was allowed to stomp on them. It was only fair. After stomping over Frank so that he'd feel better, Finitevus walked out to get himself some caramel, he needed something to satisfy his sweet tooth. "You can't get good minions anywhere these days! Mobius Prime at least had decent potential lackeys..."

Frank stomped all over the security monitors so he'd feel better too, then he walked off to get some more candy frogs, which Finitevus thought might be toads instead.

**XD I feel sorry for Iltinis, but if he hadn't been caught, we wouldn't know these amusing things about Finitevus and Frank would we? I feel partially sorry for Finitevus, and I agree with him. It is sooo hard to find good minions.**

**Disclaimer: That's why she creates people like me. ¬¬**

**Yup, R&R please! ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Glad you liked the chapters Unisis. ^_^ And your welcome! :D And while I am glowing with self importance (yes, I have an ego. If you live with it for awhile, you'll realize EXACTLY why I'm insane), I shall write an update!**

"That list is.... very small." Said Amy, looking at the list that Shadow had printed out with a critical eye.

"You should be glad it's small, it makes it easier to find the actual perpetrator of the crime." Amy stared at Shadow for a bit.

"Okay...... I'm not exactly sure if that was English, but I get the general meaning." Then she grinned, "Off to Commander Tower's office with you now!"

"Shut up." Shadow stood and picked up the paper and swept out of the office, with Amy and the others tagging along behind him. The black hedgehog frowned, not liking that they would be there to see the sorts of things the Commander (his enemy and boss) got up to.

"Come in!" Came the call. Shadow almost relaxed, the Commander sounded sane today..... when they opened the door, they discovered that was not the case. The Commander was having a tea party with.... chimpanzees. Shadow's eyes twitched as Amy stuffed her fist into her mouth to stifle her laughter, and Sonic shook with the effort of suppressing his own. "Tea agent Shadow?" It took all of Shadow's mental strength to stop himself from blowing up.

"No thank you sir. I have come here for serious reasons." Abraham Tower raised an eyebrow.

"I see. Sit down, have a biscuit, and tell all." Sonic grinned at Shadow, who reluctantly sat down, but refused to touch the biscuits that were on the very childish plate the Commander offered. Shadow swiftly explained the situation and handed the list to the Commander, who read it while sipping tea.

Amy anxiously watched him. Then the Commander smiled. "All of the men on this list are ones I know except for one. Dr. Finitevus." He said, tapping the echidna's name. "He appeared a year or two before Shadow first appeared around here, and has helped design most of the G.U.N. robots and weaponry. The other men are trustworthy, Finitevus however, is not." Shadow gave the Commander a look that conveyed a silent question.

The Commander, fortunately, understood it, even though he wasn't exactly on his rocker that morning. "He reads horror stories and he says strange things about creepy sorts of experiments, and at one point I had to refuse a request to conduct mutational experiments on prisoners." The Commander shuddered, something Shadow had never seen the grey-haired man do. "He was going to make demons with those mutations... I could never have said yes to that request."

"Where is Finitevus's lab located sir?"

"We're not exactly sure, but his computers are connected to our network, so Tails should be able to find him quickly. And Shadow.... if you take Sonic and his friends, leave Amy out of it, she could get hurt." For Amy, who was extremely anxious about Iltinis, this was the LAST straw.

"I'm so SICK of having to stay behind because I could get hurt. You guys could get hurt to, yet you're allowed to go! I'm SICK of being used as bait by the bad guys, I'm SICK of being used to force people to agree to the things the bad guys want, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not!"

***

Finitevus noticed that while Iltinis had been extremely depressed earlier, now he seemed uneasy and restless, prowling around the perimeters of his cell. "What is bothering you Iltinis?" Asked Finitevus, as he fingered his muddied cloak of insanity. Iltinis shot a glance at him, paused for a minute, then continued prowling. "You can talk to me, I accept you for who you are, _I_ wouldn't betray you." Iltinis spun, eyes blazing.

"Shut up!" He roared.

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere. Your recent betrayal is a tender subject is it?"

"You don't know if they'd reject me." Said Iltinis, less sure now.

"Let's face it, we know Sonic would for sure, Tails might follow his big brother's lead, and Knuckles...."

"Already accepts me." Said Iltinis flatly. Finitevus cursed mentally. He was supposed to be breaking Iltinis and finding out where he came from and why he was there, and if there were others like him!

"How do you know that for sure? He's known Sonic longer than you, Sonic's opinion might influence him and make him believe that you were being nice to Amy only so you could get to Sonic to kill him." Iltinis felt as if he'd been plunged into a mountain river in the middle of winter. Not having been around the planet's surface too long, he had no idea that this was something that Sonic would have said was impossible.

Finitevus guessed correctly when he thought that Iltinis wouldn't be too sure of his relationships or how relationships were held together. For all the werehog knew, relationships could fall apart at the drop of a hat. Which is sadly true sometimes, but not all the time. And not for Sonic and the gang. Iltinis covered his ears, his mouth twisted in a frown, trying to block out Finitevus's words, trying to say he didn't believe them. But tears ran down his muzzle anyway, showing that he actually did believe the lies being fed to him. The white echidna scientist smiled. "Come Iltinis, it's time for a little test." Iltinis looked up.

"What sort of test?" He asked suspiciously.

"One that you won't like." Said Finitevus, smirking as he pressed a button that sent sleeping gas into Iltinis's enclosure. He had decided that he could just use a truth serum on Iltinis and didn't have to bother with trying to get into his good books. He'd allied himself to that fat fool Eggman so he could experiment, not befriend gullible losers. "No one has ever cared for you Iltinis, and no one ever will." Were the last words the snarling werehog (he'd transformed) heard before the sleeping gas finally managed to send him to sleep, spiraling into a dark pit of despair that he might never come out of.

***

"So explain it to me again." Said Rouge, looking at Shadow with an amused smile. "Amy blackmailed you into doing this." Shadow nodded, a sour look on his face. "Are you going to tell me what she blackmailed you with?"

"It's none of your business." He growled, moving to the front of the ship.

"Stop being so angsty!" She called after him cheerfully, then turned to Amy. "So we've got to save Iltinis from some demented echidna?" Knuckles was looking out the window thoughtfully as she said that.

"Pretty much."

"I wonder... if he suddenly appeared just before Shadow came, and has no past that can be discovered... maybe he's from another dimension?"

"One where I'm not the last echidna." Said Knuckles softly, looking at his hands. He'd taken his gloves off so they wouldn't hinder him during the attack. At least, that was the excuse he gave. No one other than Rouge knew that she'd blackmailed him into it with threats about telling Shade of his attachment to her, though how Rouge had found out he didn't know.

And why she didn't want him to keep his gloves off during the attack was also a mystery. "Oh come off your little self-pity thing." Said Rouge.

"It's not about self-pity." Growled Knuckles. "It's about not wanting to be the last of my kind. You all have plenty of others of your own species to interact with, I've never had that. I want to fit in in a group who understand about what I do, what I have to do."

"Look, Knuckie, you could leave the Master Emerald with me for awhile and go off and do some treasure hunting every now and then."

"By the time I'm back it would probably have been sold on eBay to the villain who offered the most." Said Knuckles, glaring at her.

"And you've just stopped making me feel sorry for you." Said Rouge, grinning.

"Stop arguing." Snapped Shadow. "We're almost there. Let's hope their security cameras don't show them where we're landing."

***

The security cameras did show that area actually. But as we know, Frank had stomped on the security monitors to make himself feel better, so he had no idea that they were coming there. He was quietly having some candy as he heard strange wailing noises coming from Finitevus's lab. He shivered. None of the people who Finitevus had for minions wanted to go in there when he was there. Those who failed him mysteriously disappeared, and screams could be heard from the lab the next day.

And there were no security cameras in there, or any doors into it. Finitevus and his employees got in there via warp ring. A green hedgehog had come by once, and when the screams came from the lab the next day, they could hear the green hedgehog with the scars on his chest laughing. Frank shivered again. What wouldn't he give to not have to work for Finitevus anymore? He knew that those who had tried to report Finitevus's experiments on living beings to G.U.N. had disappeared without a trace and were never seen again, and that no one ever came to find out what happened to them.

So when the door opened and Frank found himself staring at the business end of a gun, and being told to either say where Finitevus was or die, Frank was perfectly happy to tell them where Finitevus was, give them a warp ring, and give them the code to Iltinis's enclosure. "Only, he ain't in there right now." He said nervously. "He... he's in the lab." Amy, realizing then that the wails were probably from Iltinis, paled.

"Oh no...."

***

Iltinis, still asleep, _was_ wailing. Finitevus was using one of his machines to "prod" Iltinis's mind, to search through his memories. And it hurt. Finitevus actually enjoyed causing his experimental subjects pain. It illustrated some moral apparently. What this moral was he had forgotten, something about suffering. Whatever it was, he liked it. Finitevus was disappointed to discover that there weren't any more creatures like Iltinis.

But he did discover that if creatures were infused with energy from Dark Gaia, they could later have the energy leave them. It would then either rejoin Dark Gaia, or become a seperate being. Iltinis was a special case. He had been thrown out of Dark Gaia as well. Which made him an interesting subject. Finitevus stuck a needle into Iltinis's arm. "That should have you singing like a canary, my shaggy friend." He said, smirking.

"Surrender, or we'll be forced to kill you." Finitevus faced the intruders to his lab. Shadow was aiming a gun at him quite calmly. "Though if you do surrender, Amy will probably try to kill you anyway. We could make it quick, whereas Amy would make it slow. Take your pick."

"Neither." Said Finitevus, smirking. He stepped back, threw a needle from a table at Shadow, grabbed Iltinis, and disappeared into a warp ring in a couple of seconds. Shadow, dodging backwards, was bumped into by Sonic, who was coming through the warp hole. Shadow was knocked straight into the needle. Shadow swore and pulled it out of his chest. He stepped forward, then swayed suddenly.

"Shadow what's wrong?" Asked Sonic, catching Shadow's elbow as he stepped fully into the lab. Amy and Rouge followed. Shadow's free hand went to his forehead.

"He..... did something..... to me..." He managed to say before collapsing. Sonic caught him. Rouge hurried over.

"Tails! Get in here!" Tails was halfway through when she said that. He hurried and knelt by Shadow, whipping out a small scanner and running it over the air above Shadow's body. He then checked the screen.

"Oh..." the next word is censored for those of you who are of the delicate frame of mind. "... fudge." Never mind, it turns out there was no need to censor it.

"What's wrong with him buddy?"

"It was some sort of liquid form of the chaos syphon...."

"What in the world is that?"

"Something I learned about when I was investigating the idea of other dimensions. Anyway, we've got to get it out of him fast or it will drain all his chaos energy, then start on his life force."

"And.... and once that's done?" Asked Rouge, looking worried.

"Then it'll leave and start working on the next person."

"And how do you know that?" Demanded Amy.

"I'm a speed reader, I read his notes about it on the bulletin board."

***

Finitevus set the collar on Iltinis's neck, and added a small machine to the collar. It would allow him to control the werehog. "Ah well, I knew I'd be discovered sooner or later. It's too bad I wasn't able to mutate that lazy cat though." He smiled as he thought of the fight that the heroes would have when they exited the lab. A fight for their lives, and all thanks to a little button on a remote that Finitevus always kept with him. Frank would soon learn what happened to his former employees.

**That sounds sooooooooo freaky. O.O And what's going to happen to Iltinis? What's going to happen to Shadow? I SCREAM WITH ZE FEARS!**

**Disclaimer: ..... ¬¬**

**Okay okay, I admit I'm not screaming, but it is all very exciting in a scary way you have to admit. So...... what's Finitevus going to do with Iltinis? What happened to the echidna's former employees? Is Frank going to get a bag of chips? Find out in the next chapter which will be up..... sometime. I'm not sure when. If I continue going at the rate I have been, it'll be soon. ^_^ R&R plz!**


	7. Chapter 7

Iltinis's ear twitched, he could hear a voice.... but it seemed as if the voice was far away, as if it was talking to someone else, not him. With a jolt, he realized it was Finitevus's voice. And Finitevus was telling him to come with him. '_Why the hell would I want to go with you you creep_?' Wondered Iltinis, frowning. His eyes opened and he found himself looking at Finitevus, what horrified him though, was that he was standing.

"Ah, excellent. The mind control device still works, even though it is attached not to you, but to your shock collar." Iltinis growled. "Tell me Iltinis.... do you hate Sonic?" Iltinis was going to say "yes", until he could find out if this was true or not, but instead he gave the truth.

"I don't know." The shock must have registered on his face however, because Finitevus smiled at him.

"I gave you a dose of truth serum during the..... test. It should continue working for the next two days." Iltinis growled and swiped at Finitevus, who stepped backwards, still smiling. "Tsk tsk, I see that I shall have to turn the mind control device on to full power now. You will experience total loss of control over your own actions, which will probably feel quite frustrated." He pressed a button as he explained this.

Iltinis, despite his attempts to continue moving, slowed to a halt and just stood there, like some sort of puppet with invisible strings. With disgust, Iltinis realized that he _was_ one while Finitevus used that mind control device. "Much better." Finitevus patted Iltinis's head, making the werehog want to bite him.

'_I am _so_ going to get him for this as soon as I get the chance_!' he thought, seething.

'_Why not make the chance sooner rather than later_?' Asked a voice. It sounded.... _sticky_, that was the only way Iltinis could describe it.

'_Who are you_?' He thought in reply. A chuckle greeted that.

'_Who else but Dark Gaia? No one else would have access to your thoughts, except Sonic, but he has no idea how to do it. He doesn't even know he can. He's such an idiot_.'

'_What do you want_?' Snapped Iltinis, irritated, paying attention only to the voice of Dark Gaia, seeing as there was no point in paying attention to what Finitevus had him doing.

'_To help you of course_.'

_'Oh yeah? Last time someone wanted to 'help' me, they were aiming to hurt me_.'

'_I'm not Finitevus_.'

'_How in the world would you help me anyway...?_' Asked Iltinis, curious to hear what sort of plan his "father" (you could say) had to help him... if that was his intention at all.

'_You know Iltinis, you're not the first of your kind_.'

'_And that's supposed to make me feel better_?'

'_No, but I thought you might want to know. Anyway, creatures like you only continue to exist instead of being absorbed back into me because while I sleep...... I do enjoy seeing what life is like on the planet I'm supposed to destroy every couple million years_.' Iltinis was distracted from this....... interesting conversation by Finitevus, who had come to a stop and was smacking himself on the forehead. Making Iltinis get some very interesting thoughts regarding punching the echidna in the forehead.

"Iltinis." He turned. The werehog blinked. "I want you to go kidnap Shadow. I'll have to get rid of the chaos siphon in him, he could be quite useful against Sonic and the others.... if they escape from my employees that is... my precious little darlings......" Iltinis thought this was very creepy to be hearing from Finitevus, but put it out of his mind. Something that was a little too easy to do.

***

Sonic stared at the beings who had entered the room during the time they'd been in the lab. Frank was cowering, wide eyed, behind a desk. "What are those things?!"

"I don't know.... but I can guess." Muttered Frank.

"Then what do you guess?" Asked Sonic, ducking a tentacle that darted out and snapped in the air where his head had been.

"I think they're Finitevus's other employees, the ones who went missing." Frank swallowed. "I was going to be next." He realized, horrified.

"Probably." Said Sonic. The mutated creatures might have have been chameleons, a couple of cats, and a few squirrels at one point. Some of them looked like Chaos had had parts of himself taken off and moulded to them. Like the one that had tried to hit Sonic. It had tentacles instead of arms, and it's eyes were pure red. In fact, all of the mutated creatures had red eyes.

And bone-chilling howls emitted from their mouths. Shadow was carried through by Rouge. Sonic pulled the bat down, which meant she barely avoided getting her head caught in a clamp that shot out of a cyborg chameleon's arm. The chameleon cyborg only had one normal hand, and half of his face. The rest of him was metallic. Sonic felt incredibly sorry for these poor beings.

Soon all of them were crouched behind desks, occasionally driving back the mutates as they came forward. For the most part, they were on all fours, and if they had tails, their tails lashed back and forth in frustration as they found themselves unable to get close enough to their prey to attack. Suddenly the door fell down and Iltinis came in. "Fluffy!" Called Amy, looking relieved. Iltinis didn't seem to pay attention to her, not even to hear her.

The mutates sprang at him, but Finitevus suddenly appeared. "Leave him. He answers to me." That was when Amy noticed the collar and the device attached to it. She sprang up, but Sonic dragged her down as an energy-leeching whip shot from the palm of a squirrel. The remaining types of mutates were mixed with other sorts of creatures. Though how Finitevus had acquired them was a mystery. Squirrel-foxes suddenly sprang at the desks at a gesture from Finitevus. "Get Shadow Iltinis!" Barked Finitevus.

Iltinis swiped at the desks and they flew in opposite directions. "Wound them if possible Iltinis. This time, it's up to you." Iltinis raised a hand at Amy, who cowered, knowing she wouldn't be able to bring herself to attack him. Besides, there wasn't enough space for her to summon her hammer, swing it back, and hit him. Iltinis's hand stopped a couple of inches from her face. Amy's heart was beating wildly in her ribcage as Iltinis's pupils suddenly became slitted.

"Hello my dear." Spoke Dark Gaia's sticky voice. Amy stared, not knowing who was speaking through Iltinis.

"Iltinis....?" She asked, uncertain.

"Oh no, I am just helping him so that he doesn't hurt you. He needs my help after all." There was silence from Iltinis for a couple of seconds, then he turned abruptly and launched himself at Rouge, pulling Shadow from the bat's arms and bouncing off a wall. He went back to Finitevus.

"Excellent." Said Finitevus, pleased. He hadn't noticed what had happened between Iltinis and Amy, he'd been too distracted by directing the mutates. Sonic was zooming around, performing homing attacks, and trying not to actually hurt them. Rouge had joined in now, kicking viciously at them. "You can do whatever you want with the rest of them." Said Finitevus, waving a hand at his creations. They shrieked gleefully and renewed their attack. There were only about five standing now, but knowing that they could do whatever they wanted to their opponents had them attacking and giving twice as much trouble. Finitevus turned and exited, followed by Iltinis.

***

'_So that was your 'help' huh_?' Asked Iltinis, furious at having left Amy and the others in danger.

'_Well what did you want me to do? Allow him to notice and start using that shock collar on you? He'd have kept going until you were under his control again, or dead_.'

'_I don't care! Amy might be getting killed_!'

'_You know Iltinis..... you can get rid of this shock collar_.' Said Dark Gaia, sounding thoughtful. He hadn't even noticed what Iltinis had said about Amy. '_Besides, I thought you believed the others had rejected you._'

'_I'm not sure about anything except that I've got to protect Amy! And you know it!_'

'_True, it is hard to hide thoughts from another person when they've got full access to your mind_.' Finitevus placed a shock collar and one of his little mind control devices on Shadow, then pulled a machine that looked like a leech out of a hidden pocket. He placed it on Shadow's chest and it glowed. A small glass window on one of it's side showed it slowly fill up with something that looked and moved like mercury.

Finitevus held it up to the light and smiled, satisfied. Then he rolled Shadow onto his stomach and carefully did....... something. Iltinis couldn't see from his position, and Finitevus hadn't given him any commands that would justify his moving from that spot. So Iltinis had to just sit there, frustrated, as Finitevus did whatever he was doing. He held up a chaos emerald and smirked. "This should revive Shadow easily." He rolled Shadow over again and placed the emerald on the hedgehog's chest, then he placed Shadow's hands over it. "The Servants are the Seven Chaos, Chaos is Power, Enriched by My Will!" He chanted. "Transfer your power to the hedgehog so that he may awaken to serve me."

Shadow twitched and groaned. '_This is going to be interesting_.' Predicted Dark Gaia.

'_You are sick_.'

'_I know, I've been sick ever since I was created. My only purpose in life is to destroy after all. I've killed billions of creatures, how much sicker can you get_?' Asked Dark Gaia. Iltinis had no answer.

**I know this might be a little short, and I apologize if my last chapter seemed rushed to you. This is (I think) what people call a "filler" chapter. Correct me if I'm wrong please. Anyway, who knows if Dark Gaia plans to help Iltinis? Maybe it's all part of a complicated plot to awaken him again so he can destroy the world! :O**

**Disclaimer: You are so paranoid. ¬¬**

**Only when it comes to my life being in danger. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: *eye twitches***

**R&R, tell me what you think and stuff! :D No flames though, they serve no use whatsoever. And I'm sorry there wasn't much of Amy or Sonic and the others. Oh, and should I mention that a well-loved group of characters are going to appear in the next chapter?**

**Disclaimer: Do you mean Silver, Blaze, and Marine?**

**No, Marine is nuts, Silver is cute (but no, he isn't appearing), and Blaze has anger problems. See you all next chapter (whenever that might be)!**


	8. Chapter 8

"I hate Finitevus." Said Amy in a very calm, matter-of-fact voice. Rouge nodded her agreement. The guys were quiet, they knew that the two females could go off at any given moment and start destroying a lot of things.... and they were scary when angry (seriously, they are!)

Rouge sighed and sat. "What I don't get is why Finitevus weakened Shadow, then decided to kidnap him."

"I don't think he planned to kidnap Shadow originally." Said Tails. "I'm guessing that he realized that if we could cure Shadow and get a chaos emerald into his hands, then we'd be able to find him and beat him easily, and recover Iltinis." Sonic was standing with a shocked look in his eyes, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Earth to Sonic, you okay in there?" Asked Knuckles, waving a hand in front of the hedgehog's face.

"Guys..." Sonic's voice was a little strangled. "Dark Gaia's talking to me." Knuckles gave him a doubtful look. "Iltinis is talking too."

"Sonic, the stress is probably just getting to you...." Sonic's pupils became slits and the same sticky voice Amy had heard in Finitevus's base spoke.

"He's stressed alright, but not insane. I can promise that. Iltinis is also quite alright, but very angry at me for not making sure Amy would be okay before I had to let Finitevus's mind control device take over again."

"So.... you're Dark Gaia?" Sonic's head nodded.

"Of course m'dear. Who else would I be? Iltinis thinks quite highly of you by the way." Rouge smirked and nudged Amy, who went red and glared at the bat. "Anyway, he's glad to know you're okay. Any message you want me to convey to him?"

"No..... but I would like to know if he can escape that mind control thing, or if we'll have to help him." Dark Gaia was quiet for a moment, then he stretched Sonic's mouth into a smile.

"He can't, and you can't either. I'll be doing it."

"But how...?"

"I'll just take over his body temporarily, like I've done with your idiot, Sonic." Knuckles grinned. "Anyway, I must be going now, I'm going to have to see if Shadow would accept me entering his mind too." With that, Sonic's pupils went back to normal.

"That guy is nuts! If you could have _seen_ some of the things in his head...."

"Well we didn't, and we've got plans to make." Amy ignored Rouge's little signals and went to get something to drink.

***

Iltinis was (once again) furious. '_I never told you you could tell her about how I think of her!_'

'_Hey, at least I didn't go and say that you love her. Isn't that good?_' Iltinis gave an exasperated sigh and stared at Shadow, who was sleeping.... like Finitevus. The chaos emerald's light shone from between Shadow's fingers as it continued to send energy into him. Shadow's eyes suddenly opened and one of his hands clenched around the chaos emerald as the other went out to push himself up.

'_Do your stuff Dark Gaia._'

'_Have you forgiven me yet?_'

'_Just do it!_' He could have sworn he heard Dark Gaia chuckle as his presence vanished from Iltinis's mind. Shadow's eyes widened, then he frowned. Dark Gaia reappeared in Iltinis's head, pouting.

'_He won't let me access his thoughts. How mean._'

'_No one sane would want you in their head._' Growled Iltinis.

'_Oh come on, I'm a nice guy! What is there to not like?_'

'_Hmm...... let's think about that shall we? You've killed billions, whenever you wake up it's only to destroy the world, and you're really sinister looking. Need I go on?_'

'_Sure! I like hearing about myself._' Iltinis groaned. It was going to be a looooong night.

***

Shadow was..... less than pleased to find out about the mind control device. In fact, before Finitevus had put the mind control device on Shadow at full power, the black hedgehog very nearly managed to strangle him. Iltinis thought it was a great pity that he hadn't managed to do it. And he could tell without having to be in Shadow's head that the hedgehog was seething and swearing to murder the white echidna.

***

Espio was on the verge of finding a brick wall to bash his head against. Vector had decided that they had a new mission: find the holy jar of cherry jam. How he had come by this idea, the chameleon didn't know. What he did know, was that Charmy was all for it. And so where a couple of.... friends that they had met. Mighty and Ray were old friends, and Espio was glad to see them.

But they had made some new friends (like the Chaotix had). A purple weasel who started smiling whenever money was mentioned, a huge polar bear, and a green duck who waved bombs around like Charmy would wave candy around. Bean sounded and acted quite insane, and Espio had no idea why the duck was allowed to walk around where there were innocent people. "The holy jar of cherry jam is thataways!" Cried Vector, marching off at random into a bunch of trees.

When they passed a ship, Espio asked to investigate. He was told that there was no way he could be allowed to do so. When they came across a suspicious looking base, Espio again requested permission to investigate. Vector didn't seem to hear the snarls and howls coming from the base, simply telling Espio that there was no way the cherry jam would be there. Nack disappeared into the base for a bit, then came out and shook his head sadly. "Weird creatures that prob'ly would have tried to rip my head off if they weren't chained up, no cherry jam, and no money." Was all he said about the inside of the base.

Espio glanced at it as they went by, feeling like he should be going and checking it out anyway, but he was distracted from these thoughts by Bean lighting a bomb and saying that he wanted to make something go boom, so the base was a good thing to target! Bark, Nack, and Espio set about getting the bomb out of the duck's hands and putting out the fuse. There were living beings in that base, even if they weren't friendly.

***

Tails held up the little invention that would lead them to Iltinis and Shadow. "Actually, it will only be locating their shock collars and mind control devices." Amy didn't care, as long as it lead them to Iltinis and Shadow she didn't care if their guide was a machine or a rabid raccoon (no offense to any raccoons reading this).

"How far away are they?"

"With Sonic's speed, about two minutes. At our speed..... about an hour and a half." Sonic grinned.

"Did you want me to take you ahead Ames?"

"No, we need to be together for this." Said Amy, looking at the map of the area that Tails had drawn up with another of his little machines. Sonic raised his eyebrows. Amy would have jumped at any chance to be alone with him a couple of days ago.....

***

'_So people think I'm _scary_ you say? You must feel scared some time soon so that I can experience this feeling_.' Dark Gaia was absurdly pleased with the feeling of dizziness, and if Iltinis wasn't being controlled by Finitevus, he would be ordering Iltinis to spin around in circles, then stop suddenly. Iltinis rolled his eyes, he was prowling around the borders of Finitevus's camp, going clockwise. Shadow was striding around the camp as well, going counter-clockwise. Shadow inclined his head slightly towards Iltinis as they passed each other. '_You know, a being like Shadow would be interesting to experience things through._' Said Dark Gaia, sounding awfully casual.

'_For the fiftieth time no, I'm not going to try and convince Shadow to allow you to have access to his mind, or to fill him with your dark energy._'

'_It would be easy enough for me to do even without his cooperation._'

'_Don't even think about it._' Hissed Iltinis. He had the feeling that Dark Gaia was smirking, and this filled him with a feeling of dread.

'_Oooh! Dread is wonderful! Feel it more often!_' While he was thinking about what Dark Gaia was like, he added "way too childlike" to the list.

***

"The holy jar of cherry jam is reaaaaally close! I can feel..." Vector suddenly fell backwards. Sonic stood and dusted himself off.

"Howdy Vector! Fancy seeing you out here." Vector took hold of Sonic's hand and gave him an urgent look.

"Sonic, answer me truthfully, have you seen a glowing jar of cherry jam somewhere near here?" Sonic leaned to the side and looked at Espio, who was starting to get a headache. The chameleon gave Sonic a look that told all. Sort of. Sonic grinned.

"No Vector, sorry. Have you seen a guy called Iltinis somewhere around here? Him or Shadow."

"No, why?"

"This weird white echidna's taken them and is controlling them. His base is somewhere back that way, along with our ship." Espio couldn't help it, he smiled.

"We passed it."

"Did you chain up all those weirdos inside?" Asked Nack. Sonic nodded.

"It was a hell of a fight.... luckily, Knuckles had a chaos emerald with him so he was able to heal us and get rid of any scars from the injuries those mutates gave us." Sonic's ear twitched, he turned. "Darn it, Tails is probably wondering where I disappeared to. If you want to come follow me, if not, see you later!" Sonic zoomed off, leaving a clear trail. Vector stared down it.

"The holy jar of cherry jam is probably somewhere nearby!" Espio once again wished that there was a brick wall nearby.

**Vector has serious issues...... either that, or he went insane from watching Charmy. One of the two. Poor Espio, headaches aren't fun at all..... and Dark Gaia is so weird. O.o I can hardly believe it's me writing this! It seems like someone else is. Pinch me Disclaimer, so I know that I'm the one typing these chapters.**

**Disclaimer: *pinches Crazy very hard***

**Hey! I told you to pinch me, not try to bruise me!**

**Disclaimer: Well I can't say I'm sorry. Anyway, R&R people, tell her what you think of this latest chapter of this insane story.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey people! In this chapter, Vector does the impossible, and Sonic gains yet ANOTHER super form (he has way too many of those). Luckily, the others gain it too, and it's a one-time-only affair, just like Hyper Sonic.**

**Disclaimer: She had time to plan it, mainly because she didn't get any sleep last night.**

**I've got a cold, so my running nose kept me up. ¬¬**

"Well we've got more forces now." Said Tails after Mighty introduced Fang, Bean, and Bark. "Bean, do you know how to use those bombs you make properly?"

"Yeah!" Said Bean, looking indignant. "I know how to use them! You throw them at something and it goes boom!" If this was an anime, everyone would have seen the sweat drop appear on Tails's head. But it isn't, so they didn't.

"That's....... nice Bean."

"You know, I wanted to have a job once." Bean looked thoughtful now. "Nack wouldn't let me get it though, you know why?"

"Why?" Asked Sonic.

"'Cause it was in an explosives factory! The funny thing is, he thought I might have blown it up." Bean scratched his beak. "And the weird thing is, I wasn't planning to blow up the _building_. No..... there were some very strange people there, and none of them have a single Ferrari! They're _so_ insane." He paused, then continued. "So I planned to blow up their cars, then tell them to get Ferraris." Nack was banging his head against a tree, and Bark was in the middle of a facepalm.

Espio felt sorry for them, Bean was just as childish as Charmy, but he was also insane (not that Espio didn't think the youngest member of the Chaotix wasn't insane), and he could pull bombs out of nowhere, light them, and kill someone. If he was sane, and not childish, he would have been a very frightening enemy to have. These "pleasant" thoughts were interrupted by Vector. "Darn it! We've got to find the holy jar of cherry jam! It could help us beat this Finish... err........ Finiver..... no...... Flint.....?"

"Did you mean Finitevus Vector?"

"What he said, it could help us beat him!" Espio rolled his eyes.

"How is a jar of _jam_ supposed to help us Vector?"

"Maybe he thinks that eating it would give us super powers." Whispered Sonic, grinning. Vector, not knowing what the blue hero had said, continued on, oblivious to everything else.

"It would give us the power of going super...." Nack, who had been drinking something, choked, ".... and we could kick his butt before he knew what was going on!"

"Yes, but what about Shadow and Iltinis?" Asked Amy.

"You distract Iltinis Amy. From what I've heard, he likes you." I must quote that song I listened to yesterday 'if looks could kill they probably will'. Why? Because Amy was giving Rouge _such_ a glare..... "And Rouge can distract Shadow, because he knows her best, and he might be attracted to her." Rouge now sent Vector the very same glare that Amy was sending her. Tails looked thoughtful.

"That's actually a good idea. And Iltinis might not like Amy. For our plans though, he knows her best, like Shadow knows Rouge best, so having the girls distract them is a good idea." Amy and Rouge smiled.

"Are we allowed to kill them?" Asked Nack, raising a hand. Knuckles looked at him as if he was insane.

"Are you crazy?! If you kill Shadow or Iltinis, Rouge or Amy will kill you! And if you kill Finitevus, _I_ will kill you." Everyone stared at the red echidna. "What? If he dies I can't ask him where the heck he came from!"

***

Finitevus examined Iltinis's hands, Shadow was going much faster around the camp so no one could come up on them secretly. Iltinis was bored. Dark Gaia had left his head to try and convince Shadow to allow him in, so he had no one to argue with. Finitevus wanted to know why Iltinis had iron knuckles. As you probably know, when Iltinis is in werehog form, he uses his hands to walk too, like a gorilla (don't worry, gorillas are nice animals! It's not an insult to Iltinis so don't kill me!) Anyway, he placed his hand on a sharp rock and the skin on one of his knuckles was sliced. Finitevus happened to notice, even though Iltinis didn't, and walked over to discover why Iltinis hadn't reacted. "I don't know why they're like that." Iltinis said (once again) to Finitevus. The doctor frowned.

"You must have some clue.....?"

"I don't." Finitevus sighed, standing.

"Get back to your sentry duty then."

'I hate you.' Iltinis thought cheerfully as his body moved back to the edge of camp. Shadow's face was like that of a thunderstorm when he passed Iltinis. The werehog guessed that Shadow was in a fierce battle of wills with Dark Gaia. 'Good on you, I wouldn't want to give my mind to that weirdo either... if I had a choice.'

***

On their way to the camp (which they were about twenty minutes away from), Vector tripped on something and fell flat on his face. He was up in a flash, digging at the ground to see what it was. "Vector what are you doing?"

"It might be the holy jar of cherry jam!"

"Yeah right, as if that's poss....." Vector triumphantly held up a jar with a label that clearly stated that it was a holy jar of cherry jam. Heck, there was even light glowing from it. "Tails, this looks like some weird video game moment, I can't think of the game though...." If Sonic was from our world, he would know that the pose Vector was in reminded him of Link when he obtains an item in the Legend of Zelda games.

"Let us sniff the heavenly scent." Said Vector, unscrewing the top. Rouge rolled her eyes but stiffened as soon as the lid was off. It _did_ smell heavenly! And this was surprising, seeing as Rouge hated cherry jam for some reason.

"What is in that thing to make it glow?" Asked Nack. You could practically see dollar signs in his head as he thought 'chaos emerald'. Vector procured a couple of small bowls and spoons, seemingly from thin air (he had actually...... from that pocket dimension Amy's hammers are stored in).

"It's holy powers." Said Vector solemnly. Bean and Charmy stifled giggles while Espio just looked embarrassed. Even Bean and Charmy had enough sense to know that sounded stupid! Vector divided the jar among the bowls. "Enjoy." He said cheerfully, swallowing his. Everyone exchanged glances, then quickly swallowed theirs too. For a minute, nothing happened. Then they all went white and got halos over their heads! No..... just kidding. No wait, it's actually happening. [insert wide-eyed disbelief emoticon here].

"I hate having white fur." Said Sonic. "Silver is white! Not me!" He reached over his head. "And what's with the halo?! Have I died?"

"No, you have just become...." Vector did a little twirl like that Koopa reporter does in Mario and Luigi Partners in Time, "..... HOLY SONIC!"

"Vector, do you know how absolutely _ridiculous_ that sounds?" Asked Bean.

"No. Anyway, I'm Holy Vector, you're Holy Bean, he's Holy Charmy......"

"WE GET IT!" They all said at the same time.

***

Iltinis was uneasy, he could sense something approaching.... but he didn't know what. Shadow didn't seem to notice, he was too busy denying access to his mind. "Shadow." Iltinis said. 'My voice is scratchy...'

"What?" He asked, turning to Iltinis. "I'm a little busy."

"Something's coming towards the camp."

"What do you want me to do about it? We're just supposed to patrol." Iltinis grimaced.

"Maybe you are, but I'm supposed to repel any sort of attack as well." Shadow shrugged.

"Why not have Dark Gaia get rid of that collar of yours?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I'm relatively sure you know he's attacking my mind right now." Said Shadow drily. Iltinis nodded.

'This guy is not someone I'd want to mess with if he can be waging a mental war and talking casually to me at the same time.' Finitevus came over to them.

"Anything to report?"

"Yes." Said Iltinis's traitor mouth. Finitevus's face became instantly alert.

"What?"

"I can feel something approaching...."

"Well it's here baby!" They turned, Holy Sonic and the others had arrived, and the blue blur (who was currently a white blur) was grinning at them. "Did we miss anything important?"

**My favorite part had to be Knuckles's reply to Nack asking if he could kill Shadow or Iltinis. XD**

**Disclaimer: She's weird that way.**

**Weird in a good way. Anyway, R&R and tell me what you think! The next chapter will have fighting awesomeness and..... stuff. I just hope I can get the fighting right, because I am at writing my own fight scenes (at least, I think so). If you've got any tips for writing fighting stuff, please let me know in a review or PM, I could use them. O_O**

**Disclaimer: She doesn't own anything except Iltinis. Nintendo owns Link and Mario stuff, and SEGA owns the rest. Oh no wait, she also owns the Holy Jar of Cherry Jam.**

**Holy Shad..... err........ Holy Cow! I just saw pigs flying by the window! *rushes to grab camera***

**Disclaimer: ....... --.--'**


	10. Chapter 10

**I haven't figured out the dramatic stuff, so this is going to be a short chapter to show the start of the battle blah blah blah blah blah....... and to request some help with figuring out what will happen to turn events around. 'Cause I can't have Dark Gaia taking the collar off of Iltinis until Finitevus would be completely distracted from him for about ten minutes (hey, it takes time! Even with Iltinis's strength!) Please and thanks! ^_^**

Shadow's eye twitched. "Sonic, are you...?"

"Yes, I'm white." He said, groaning. "I look like Silver I know, don't rub it in." Shadow frowned.

"Silver's fur is silver."

"Ha ha, very funny. We all know it's white." Shadow facepalmed.

"I'm not going to argue with you."

"No other character is allowed to have white fur unless he is a bad guy, or unless he has my permission!" Said Finitevus indignantly. Holy Knuckles glared at him.

"Shut up, no one needs to ask you for permission to do anything."

"They do." Said Finitevus, gesturing to Shadow and Iltinis.

"I would never pretend that you could prevent me from doing anything." Hissed Shadow. Apparently he was free enough from the control to actually talk without having orders to report, or he was strong enough to be able to talk at least. Iltinis remained silent, his eyes on his shoes. He knew Amy was looking at him.

But why? Was it because he'd tried to kill her, or because she knew he liked her, even if Dark Gaia's words hadn't implied anything specific. He had no idea that Holy Amy was actually watching Finitevus, knowing that whatever Iltinis did was because of him, and to find out what was going to happen, they had to keep an eye on the echidna.

Holy Charmy then did something very unexpected. And very very stupid. At some point, Finitevus had accidentally dropped his remote, and Charmy picked it up. And then he did the most horrifying thing possible. HE PRESSED THE BIG RED BUTTON NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO PRESS. Instantly, Shadow found himself fighting to get the shock collar off, and Iltinis was writhing on the ground, pulling frantically at the collar and howling. Finitevus reached inside his cloak and realized the remote was missing.

He then noticed Charmy holding it. "Give that back!" He hissed, darting forward. Holy Sonic blocked him, his face covered in a false grin.

"Now now, don't be hasty." Holy Amy pulled the remote from Holy Charmy's shocked grasp. It was as she was desperately trying to figure out how she was supposed to turn it off when her mind seemed to fill with jelly.

'_Hello my dear._'

'_Dark Gaia?_' Her eyes widened.

'_But of course, you called me. What's wrong now?_'

'_You mean you don't know what's happening to Iltinis?_'

'_Look at him please._' Amy did so and heard Dark Gaia curse. It wasn't one she recognized, so she guessed it came from sometime before he'd last destroyed the world. '_I had my attention elsewhere and had no idea this would happen._'

'_Could you tell me how to turn it off?_'

'_It's too late for Iltinis's, but if you press it again, Shadow's will turn off._'

'_Iltitnis is going to die?_'

'_I never said that now did I dear?_' Holy Amy swallowed and pressed the button.

'_Can't my powers save him?_'

'_He's a creature made from dark energy, you'd kill him or change him from how he is. He'd be a totally different person. And it might hurt me, bringing about another premature awakening._' Iltinis fell still as a warp ring appeared and a few individuals stepped through. A green hedgehog with icy blue eyes, an attractive female fox, a large dog, a gorilla, a frog, and a lynx. Finitevus smirked.

"Meet the Destructix." Suddenly there was a snarl. Everyone turned. Iltinis's eyes were open again, but the irises and pupils were gone. His hands firmly took the collar and with a quick jerk it snapped in half. He threw it away and stood, getting about twice as big as he did so.

"Finitevus, what is that thing?" Asked Scourge, the green hedgehog.

"I am not sure. It is intriguing, I shall have to study Iltinis further...."

"I won't fall for your trickery again, don't bother taking out those damn needles or oxygen masks of yours." Iltinis growled. His fangs became longer, they were like daggers now.

"Come on Iltinis, I am only trying to help all life. With the experiments I conduct on you, I could learn how to cure people and..." He was suddenly pinned to the ground beneath a massive hand. Iltinis's nose was inches from the echidna doctor's face.

"One more lie and I'll squash you like a bug."

"Alright, let me up." Iltinis did so slowly. As soon as he was up, he stepped back into a warp ring. "Take care of them Scourge, capture Iltinis alive. I don't care if you have to rough him up or not." Scourge's eyes lit up.

"Sure thing doc."

"You'll have to get through his friends first." Said Fiona, looking at the Holy versions of our heroes.

"I don't have friends." Hissed Iltinis. "All I have is a world covered in people to trick me or take advantage of my trust." He chuckled. "You'll just all have to die."

**Ha ha...... maybe I actually figured out the climax bit without meaning to. O.O Anyway...... Iltinis is acting weird and the world is going to get destroyed again, oh goodie! ¬¬ If you've got ideas, tell me! I could use some. ^^'**

**Disclaimer: Crazy doesn't own any of the characters except Iltinis. She also owns the holy forms, and the Holy Jar of Cherry Jam. Scourge, Fiona the fox, and the Destructix are NOT OCs, they're characters from one of the Sonic Comics. Check if you don't believe us.**

**R&R please, and I hope I can update soon. ^_^**


	11. Chapter 11

"_Yes...... kill them all Iltinis._" Purred Dark Sonic. Dark Gaia's voice, with it's "lovable" stickyness, suddenly spoke.

"_What are you doing in my child's head?_" He asked coldly.

"_Driving him nuts._" Replied Dark Sonic.

"_Well get out._"

"_No._"

"_Don't make me force you._" Dark Sonic snorted.

"_I'd like to see you try, you second-rate demi-god._"

"_WHAT?!_" So started a battle of the wills inside of Iltinis's head.

***

Iltinis swung his fist at Scourge, who ducked under it. Sonic was hit instead. The currently white hedgehog flew into a tree. "Ow....." groaned the international hero. Iltinis roared, frustrated. He hardly ever hit them, and it was annoying him. The Destructix and the heroes had made a temporary truce so they could beat Iltinis. Shadow shot a chaos spear at the werehog.... that was when something occurred to Fiona.

"Hey Scourge?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do they call him a werehog when he's a combination of wolf and hedgehog?" Scourge shrugged.

"Maybe they were too stupid to realize that." (Geeee...... thanks for calling me stupid Scourge. ¬¬) This moment of distraction allowed Iltinis's fist to connect to Scourge's face. They heard a sound that told them all the green hedgehog's nose was broken. He swore, eyes blazing. "You are _so_ going to get it for that hedgewolf." Iltinis smirked as he spun to parry a blow from Knuckles.

"You're a jerk," Iltinis said matter-of-factly. "You deserved it."

"He's right you know!" Called Amy.

"Shut up!" Snarled Scourge.

***

Finitevus sorted through a couple of folders, very annoyed with the fact that every single picture he had of Iltinis didn't show him in it. The hedgewolf just seemed to have disappeared from every single one. "I hope it's the same for Eggman."

***

Eggman was furious. "THEY DON'T SHOW HIM ANYMORE! MY RECORDS ARE INCOMPLETE NOW!" His robots wisely hid, after having seen him destroy an egg-pawn in his rage.

***

The Commander looked at the fight unfolding on his screen. He frowned and picked up his phone. "Connect me to Shadow's wrist communicator."

***

Iltinis twisted and bucked, trying to throw Vector off his back, but the crocodile hung on, concentrating on making attacking hard for Iltinis. The hedgewolf slammed his back against a tree. Vector gasped and his grip loosened...... Iltinis was free in an instant. He whirled and threw a punch at Vector, who was turning green again. Shadow knocked the punch off course with a chaos spear. Iltinis turned on him, furious. "You will pay for that, creature." Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"That voice sounds familiar...." Iltinis lunged at him, claws out. Shadow dodged. "Yes, yes I know that voice!" Everyone except Iltinis paused. "Dark Sonic's in you isn't he?" Asked Shadow, ducking under a kick. The hedgewolf became a hedgehog now, shooting towards Shadow like a bullet. Shadow did a backflip, so while Shadow was in the air, Iltinis passed under him. "But why, why are you controlling Iltinis? Why not Sonic?"

Iltinis snarled and darted in to attack again, Scourge and the Destructix were holding something that looked suspiciously like a net..... "You were trapped inside Iltinis's energy weren't you?"

"Shut up!" Hissed Iltinis.

***

"_You can't keep talking through Iltinis and fighting me forever._" Dark Gaia had a point, doing this was putting an immense amount of strain upon Dark Sonic.

"_Shut up!_"

"_Is that the best you can come up with? Sheesh, you call me a demi-god, but what do you think you are? 'Cause you certainly ain't anything higher than a demi._" Dark Sonic snarled something incomprehensible as he stubbornly continued controlling Iltinis's movements and fighting Dark Gaia.

***

Shadow backflipped again, but Dark Sonic had seen him do it last time. This time Iltinis landed a hit, his claws piercing Shadow's chest. The black hedgehog's eyes widened in surprise as he was thrown into a tree. Iltinis slowly licked the blood from his claws and smirked. "Who's next?" He asked, turning around. Amy stepped forward. "You? What a shame, I was hoping I'd have to fight you last. After all, it would be so amusing to see you crying over Sonic's dead body." Of course, Dark Sonic didn't know Shadow was immortal, and that his wounds were already starting to heal. Amy stepped closer.

"Iltinis."

"The name is Dark Sonic."

"I'm not talking to you. Iltinis I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me." Iltinis's ears twitched, and Dark Sonic looked annoyed.

"Shut up girly! You're making this harder than...." Suddenly he shut up. Then he spoke softly.

"It's me Amy, what lie am I going to be told this time?" Amy shook her head and stepped even closer.

"Iltinis, only Finitevus lied to you." Iltinis snorted. "I'm serious Iltinis, you can't kill everyone."

"Oh? And why not?"

"I know that you don't have even a smidgen of anger directed at any children you've seen, so that's one reason. Another is that it would make me unhappy."

"And why should I care about what makes you happy?" Asked Iltinis, feeling bitter.

"Because I know you love me." Iltinis froze.

"I'll kill Dark Gaia for that."

"No, don't." Iltinis frowned, but didn't reply. "Iltinis, I l...." Suddenly Shadow's wrist communicator crackled and the Commander's voice came over it.

"Shadow, Shadow can you hear me?" Shadow groaned and managed to reply that he could. "Once you're finished with that battle of yours, I'd like you to bring Iltinis to me. I'd like to talk to him." Iltinis became angry again.

"He probably just wants to "talk" to me like Finitevus did! I'm not going through the pain again!" He yelled, charging at Amy. However, at the last second he veered to the side and headed towards Sonic. Despite what he thought, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her.

***

"See?" Came Dark Gaia's smug voice. "You don't have enough control over him to make him hurt her."

"I can still make him kill everyone else."

"I doubt it, Amy was pretty close to breaking him out." Suddenly Dark Sonic's grip on Iltinis slipped.

***

Iltinis froze, a couple inches away from Sonic. "What's going on...?" He asked, sounding frightened.

***

Dark Sonic beat Dark Gaia away then reached back towards Iltinis's mind, his control enveloping it.

***

Iltinis gave a pained cry and clutched his head, then straightened, angry again. But before he could take a step, a net fell over him and a dart hit his shoulder. Dark Sonic screamed through him, furious, and started trying to tear the net, but the tranquilizer knocked him out and he collapsed.

***

Dark Sonic swore in every language he knew, the distraction gave Dark Gaia enough time to take hold of him. Dark Sonic knew fear then. "Become one with me, little darkness," crooned Dark Gaia, before absorbing Dark Sonic. With the destruction of him, his control disappeared.

***

"Thanks for the save there, but you can hand him over now." Said Sonic, stepping closer to Scourge.

"Sorry loser, but we ain't giving him to ya." Scourge held up three fingers as he walked away. "Read between the lines." Shadow shot up and towards Scourge, who turned, surprised. Before the others could move, Fiona opened a warp ring, hauled Iltinis up, tossed him through it, and jumped through after him. The remaining Destructix fled, leaving Scourge to Shadow.

After about twenty minutes of a good beating, a guy in a weird suit suddenly appeared, standing on a tree...... what made him weird was that he was standing sideways. He pressed a button on his suit and fell to the ground. "I forgot about that." He grumbled, standing and dusting himself off. "I'm Zonic the Zone cop, hopefully this will be the only time you ever see me. I'll take Scourge off your hands." Shadow reluctantly gave the now unconscious Scourge to Zonic. "G'day." He disappeared in a flash.

"Now what?" Asked Amy. Everyone looked at the warp ring.

"We follow him." Said Shadow. "I'll go."

"I'll go with you." Said Knuckles. By now, they'd all lost their Holy forms (Espio thanked whatever gods ninja's had that the Holy forms were gone). Shadow nodded and the two ran and jumped through the portal.

**Okay I hope that was good. Sorry for not updating 'til now. ^^' Anyway, I REALLY hope this was good, I had something else planned, but it came to a dead end. This chapter was inspired by a couple random ideas Unisis11 gave me. Thank you! :3 Anyway, R&R, tell me if you like it, and I hope to have the next chapter up soon-ish. Much sooner than this one I hope.**


	12. Chapter 12

Iltinis twitched, then groaned and cracked one eye open. He found himself staring through the net. The Destructix were arguing over what they should do, which is why they hadn't noticed him waking up. '_What happened?_' Iltinis wondered, he remembered the shock collar electrocuting him, then being about to attack Sonic, after that, he was here. '_Dark Gaia?_' He asked, hoping that his creator would be in his head, which was a first.

There wasn't any answer, and Iltinis started feeling very alone. "We'll take him to Finitevus and that's final!" That was when Iltinis started feeling angry. When Dark Sonic had been in control, the angry version of Iltinis, the one that might have been him if he'd let his hatred of Sonic completely control him (so much that he would have killed Sonic upon seeing him). Now that Iltinis seemed to be coming back.

He closed his eye a split second before Sleuth Dawg (I know the first part of his name is Sleuth, I'm not sure about the second part) turned and grabbed part of the net, lifting it with no difficulty. Our hedgewolf friend smirked, and changed, so that he wasn't a hedgehog anymore. Sleuth fell backwards, and Iltinis burst out laughing. Then he tore out of the net and became a hedgehog again, which saved him from the tranquilizer dart they sent at him. "You'll pay for what you've done!" He roared, eyes starting to slowly become suffused with red.

***

"Where in the world do you think they...."

"You'll pay for what you've done!" Shadow and Knuckles exchanged a look which communicated that they were thinking the same thing. Iltinis was the one yelling, and the Destructix were obviously the ones screaming. They dashed off, Shadow going a little slower than he could have gone, mainly so that Knuckles could stay beside him. Getting separated just because Knuckles was behind him did not seem to appealing at the moment.

***

Finitevus had finished reviewing his plans, and making copies of them, so while he waited for the Destructix to arrive, he read some scrolls he'd found. As he continued reading, an evil grin came on to his face. What he'd found was even better than warp rings.....

***

Amy was pacing, worried. "Calm down Ames! I'm sure he'll be fine."

"That's the problem! He wasn't fine while he was here! And I'm sure that Dark Sonic wasn't saying everything that came out of his mouth. Who else is in him, other than Dark Gaia?"

"No one I could detect," Dark Gaia said, through Charmy. No one was really against Dark Gaia using Charmy as a mouthpiece, mainly because the bee had been annoying the heck out of them.

"Then why did he suddenly stop at one point and ask what was going on? He looked and sounded frightened if you didn't notice!"

"Oh I assure you, I did. But I still don't have any answers for you Amy." She sighed and sat down.

"I wish I'd decided to go with Shadow and Knuckles," then her face grew thunderous, "I'd have given Finitevus a lot of trouble," she added darkly.

"We don't doubt that," laughed Dark Gaia, "You are the most interesting girl I've ever met! And that's saying something."

***

When Shadow and Knuckles arrived at the Destructix camp, they were all knocked out, and showed the signs of a good beating. "Ouch," Knuckles winced sympathetically as he noticed a huge bruise on Sergeant Simian's chest.

"Save your sympathy," said Shadow, already heading in the direction Iltinis's trail led in.

***

Finitevus looked up as Iltinis crashed into his temporary "camp". "Ah, Iltinis. How are you doing?"

"Not too well, I'll be better if you let me do something."

"Which would be...?"

"Wiping that smug smile off your face after I've knocked your head from your shoulders," growled Iltinis, shooting forward. Finitevus ducked, and Iltinis sailed over him.

***

"We're close."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can hear Iltinis yelling." Knuckles shrugged.

"Your hearing is better than mine I guess."

"Maybe, or you were lost in thought."

***

With a flash, Zonic the zone cop appeared, he looked at Finitevus, eyes narrowed. "This isn't right..... the one Iltinis is fighting isn't him, but at the same time it is." He pressed a button on his wrist communicator. "Tailz?"

"Yes Zonic?"

"I need some backup if you don't mind, Finitevus might be harder to take back than we thought."

**Once again, I procrastinate and somehow manage to put off Finitevus getting what he deserves. ¬¬ Oh well. At least Zonic and the others are going to take him away! That will be after he gets a beating though, I am not letting them take him before he gets a beating. :D**

**Finitevus: But I thought you liked me!**

**Yes, but in this story, you're a jerk, and all jerks who happen to be villains get a beating in my stories!**

**Finitevus: *pouts***

**Zonic: There there, we could take you now and put you in a cell in our zone for the rest of eternity, you'll never die, you won't be able to use your warp rings or chaos energy.... you'll just exist. Would you like that instead of a beating?**

**Finitevus: *hastily* Err, no thanks! I'll take the beating over that!**

**Good boy. *pats Finitevus on the head* R&R please!**

**Disclaimer: CrazyNutSquirrel only owns Iltinis and the story idea, she doesn't own any of the other characters in it.**


	13. Chapter 13

Shadow and Knuckles heard Iltinis roar with frustration, this made them quicken their pace. Almost exactly a minute later, Finitevus nearly crashed into them. He frowned, "Damn it." He said this mainly because his warp rings needed recharging now, and if he was fighting these two, there was no way they'd let him do so.

"Hello Finitevus," said Shadow calmly, of course, his mind was racing. Why was Iltinis still roaring, and who was he attacking?

"Hello Shadow, I didn't expect to see you so soon after our last good bye."

"I didn't either," Shadow was charging up a chaos spear, Finitevus was doing the same.

"Pay back time," growled Knuckles. Finitevus and Shadow darted towards each other at the same time, Knuckles did so a split second later.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" The black spears collided with the green ones, and Finitevus was temporarily blinded by the dirt thrown up by this. Knuckles took this opportunity (he knew it was an opportunity because Dark Gaia wormed his way into his head to yell " Mr. Opportunity!") to punch Finitevus in the gut.

The white echidna doubled over, and Shadow kicked his back, sending him forward into a tree. After continuing the almost seamless beating for awhile, they started knocking him towards each other, which made it sort of like a ball game. One that is very painful for the ball, seeing as the ball is a living thing in this case. "Ten points!" Called Knuckles as Shadow's fist connected with Finitevus's eye, giving him a black eye (this is quite interesting, seeing as the "white's" of Finitevus's eyes are actually black).

"I do my best," chuckled Shadow.

"Curse you," spat Finitevus. Along with those words, he spat out a tooth. Beatings are very..... tiring. This wasn't proven until now, when Knuckles stepped to the side and let Finitevus slam into another tree. The white echidna slid to the ground and didn't even bother trying to get back up, he just breathed in and out raggedly. "I... hate you..." he wheezed.

"It's mutual," said Shadow.

"Where are you from?" Asked Knuckles, remembering that he'd been meaning to ask that question.

"Different dimension," said Finitevus shortly. Then he stood abruptly and used his warp ring. "Good bye," he said, smirking. The effect wasn't as triumphant as it could have been, seeing as the tooth he'd spat out was one of his front ones. If anything, he looked like some sort of nerd...... or is it dork? Either way, he's an evil evil nerd/dork. Shadow, despite his best efforts, wasn't fast enough to get in the warp ring (or even within an inch of it) before it closed. Shadow then used some very bad language that would have put seagulls to shame (the ones I know of have foul language).

***

While this happened, Iltinis tore the ground around where Finitevus's body had been. "Where the hell did he go?!" He roared, furious about Finitevus's disappearance. Shadow and Knuckles found him like this, looking around for signs that might tell him what happened. He spun when he heard them approach. "Stay away..."

"We'd like you to come with us Iltinis."

"Oh yeah? Why should I?" The angry Iltinis was obviously in control.

"Because Amy is worried, and wants to make sure you're okay." They didn't know this, but the guess was a good one. She was worried sick, honestly, she'd almost vomited about five times since their disappearance. It was either from the worry, or the disgusting videos Charmy started showing them via his iPod Touch, which found some sort of wi-fi connection out in the middle of a forest (how this is possible I do not know). Iltinis growled, then spun and ran. Shadow grinned, and threw the warp ring that they'd brought, Iltinis was going too fast to stop himself, he fell headfirst through it.

***

Amy shot straight up when Iltinis appeared, he landed flat on his muzzle. He pushed himself up and shook his head, trying to clear it. "Iltinis!"

"Stay away," he backed away as he said this. His face had been partially aggressive when he'd said this to Shadow and Knuckles, now it was just uneasy.

"Are you okay? I was so worried!"

"Don't come any closer," he growled, but she continued on as if she hadn't heard him.

"I was so scared that you were going to die or that Finitevus was going to torture you again! And why did you act all vicious earlier? Promise me you'll never do that again!"

"I.. I can't...." She took the last few steps and wrapped her arms around him, he shook.

"Don't ever scare me like that again."

"But...."

"I love you Iltinis, I don't want to lose you, okay? Promise me!" Iltinis closed his eyes and sagged, tired out. Her grip on him was the only thing that was keeping him upright.

"I promise," he whispered before passing out. Amy smiled.

"That was.... interesting. I couldn't stop myself talking, and in the end I said it right!"

"Good work Amy," said Dark Gaia, "He'll be wary for awhile, but with you he'll be as normal as possible!"

"Thanks."

***

When Itlinis woke up, he panicked. Where was he, why was he strapped down, and _what the hell was in his arm?!_ He whimpered, and almost immediately, Amy appeared. "Iltinis! You're awake!" She hugged him.

"What's going on...?"

"We had to strap you down to the bed because you kept on striking out in your sleep, you almost knocked Tails's head off his shoulders, Sonic barely pulled him out of the way in time." Iltinis's ears flattened against his head.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay, we all understand."

"I still hurt all of you, me, an angry version of me yes, but still me!" Iltinis was starting to sound a little hysterical, he was sitting up now that Amy had undone some of the bindings. Amy sat down on the bed, leaned over and hugged him, rubbing his back as he sobbed into her shoulder. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, Dark Super Sonic just took advantage of the fact that part of you was angry with Sonic, and amplified it so that the real you would get locked away."

"But that's part of the real me!"

"I know, but only a small part. You're not an evil person Iltinis."

"Huh, I very nearly became one then," he was insisting on feeling guilty, and Amy could tell.

"Fine Iltinis, did you want me to give you trouble about it?"

"Yes." She took a deep breath.

"Iltinis how could you! You hurt Shadow very badly! Luckily for you, Shadow is immortal, and when you hit Sonic he was in Holy form, if he wasn't, you might have killed him! And you attacked Charmy too! A _child_! Have you no shame?" Iltinis cowered under the glare she sent him, almost immediately, her face softened. "I'm so sorry Iltinis!"

"No, I needed to hear that Amy. You didn't include everything I've done, but it makes me feel..... better. At least now I know that you actually acknowledge that it _did_ happen, and that it was my body that did it."

"Sure I acknowledge that it happened, doesn't mean I blame you for it." Iltinis groaned.

"You are the most forgiving person on the planet."

"Not really, it's only for you that I am," she said, giggling. Iltinis frowned, trying to be serious, but eventually he had to chuckle too. "Did you want to get some ice cream?"

"Amy, I'm still partially strapped to the bed, and I'm not sure that..."

"Ready to go now?" Amy had pulled him off the bed and was holding him up.

"Uh, sure."

"He's awake!"

"How are you feeling Iltinis?" Asked Tails.

"Guilty, sorry about almost hitting you." Tails just laughed.

"Oh I'm fine."

"Tails probably has some invention that can fix heads back on to people," joked Sonic.

"You know, I think I do!"

"Iltinis, knock Sonic's head off so we can see if it works!" Said Knuckles. Iltinis paled, then had to dart off to the bathroom, they heard him throwing up. When the hedgewolf came back to the room (did I mention he's in hedgehog form right now?), Amy was whacking Knuckles's head with her hammer.

"Don't do that again! He told you himself that he's feeling guilty about attacking us!"

"Ouch! Okay okay! Sorry!"

"Hmph." She turned back to Iltinis, who was staring, wide-eyed. "Now what flavor of ice cream did you want to try?"

"What flavors do you have?" He asked cautiously, just in case this wasn't the right answer and she was going to whack him too.

"We've got chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, bubble gum, mint and chocolate... what was that other flavor?"

"Wasn't it pecan?"

"Oh yeah! And pecan. Thanks Cream."

"No problem Amy," said Cream, smiling that adorable smile of hers.

"So what flavor did you want?"

"Bubble gum I guess."

"Wait, he's got to sample all of them, otherwise he won't know which one he wants!" Said Sonic, looking horrified. "QUICK! To the kitchen!" He was there in a split second, then back beside Iltinis with an arm on his shoulder. "Listen buddy, you gotta be in the kitchen if that's where the food is." Iltinis flinched, but Sonic was once again in the kitchen. "Well? Hurry up!"

***

An hour later, they had discovered that Iltinis liked bubble gum and raspberry ice cream (just like me!) and panicked if Sonic moved too much before he could react to even one movement. This caused him to punch Sonic in the gut at one point. This made Shadow laugh, mainly because Sonic ran right into Iltinis's fist. Rouge arrived not too long afterwards, telling them that "everything was ready". Iltinis asked what she was talking about, but no one would tell him, not even Amy.

He could have asked Bean, but the duck was fiddling with something that looked like it was going to be a bomb (mainly because there was a fuse attached to it, it was made from a pair of sunglasses, a rubber bouncing ball, and Vector's headphones), and Iltinis didn't want to get blown up accidentally. So people either piled into the Tornado, or into Rouge's limo (don't ask how she got one, even I don't know!) Iltinis was in the limo with Amy, seeing as he had a panic attack when the plane started rising into the air.

Sonic was incredulous, but Amy said that if he was more comfortable on the ground, that was completely fine. "You have a fear of heights?" Rouge asked when they were on the highway, Iltinis shook his head.

"No, I have a fear of depths."

"What?"

"It's not that I fear heights, I'm completely fine on them, the only thing is, I'm afraid of falling to the ground and breaking." He shuddered at the thought.

"I think I know what you mean," said Amy, wrapping an arm around him. He smiled at her and leaned on her shoulder. Bean, who had finished with the bomb (Vector had managed to save his headphones, so they were replaced with a handheld game device), noticed this.

"Amy and Iltinis sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby...." Amy's well aimed mini-hammer (she got those for special occasions like this) put a stop to the song as it hit Bean on the head. He fell sideways onto the seat. Iltinis and Amy were blushing madly.

"Err... lovely weather?" Iltinis mentally face palmed, the first thing that came into his head had to be weather didn't it?

'_Tell her she looks very pretty in her outfit_,' suggested Dark Gaia.

'_It's her normal outfit! Won't it look suspicious if I just say it _now_, out of the blue_?'

'_Hey, she knows you like her, and you know she likes you! Stop being so awkward_!'

'_Hey! You're not the one in the awkward position_!'

'_Good point. Quick, she's about to say something_!'

"Iltinis, you like me, right?" He nodded. "And you know I like you," another nod. "Would you say we're a couple?"

"Err...."

"Yes?"

"I'm not sure I get it, I only got so much information from Sonic's mind."

"Oh, well, it would mean we're officially together."

'_That means, if you haven't figured it out yet, that everyone knows that you're in love, officially_.'

"So we'd be engaged then?" Asked Iltinis, getting the thought from Dark Gaia. Amy's eyes widened.

"Where'd you get that idea?!"

"Dark Gaia..." She sighed.

"Well, I think it's a little too early to think about marriage Iltinis."

"So you don't want to be married?" He asked, ears flopping down.

"That's not what I meant! I'm just saying let our relationship have a little time before we decide anything like that!"

"If you two didn't know, I can hear everything you're saying," said Rouge. Both of them went bright red.

"Don't tell anyone! Please Rouge!"

"Don't worry, I won't. This is between you two, and now me. And we're pulling in now. Just so you know, if you're going to get married, I want to get the first invitation." Amy laughed.

"Sure, we'll deliver it to you in person."

"We will?" Asked Iltinis. Amy elbowed him.

"Of course!" Bean woke up just as the door opened.

"BONZAI!" He yelled, Nack whacked his beak.

"Speak only when you're going to say something that makes sense!"

"Which means don't ever speak," said Shadow, laughing.

The party was to celebrate Iltinis's birthday. Of course, they knew that the day that Sonic had been turned into a hedgewolf (however temporary it was) was the day of Iltinis's birthday, seeing as, technically, once he'd become part of Sonic, he was Iltinis already. Amy gave him a dark brown hoodie. It was made of some sort of stretchable fabric, which made it so that he could wear it and transform into the hedgewolf without it tearing, useful.

Shadow said he'd teach him how to use chaos control, Knuckles gave him a pair of shovel claws, Rouge gave him a locket that had pictures of all of them in it (Amy was with Iltinis, though how Rouge got that picture he didn't know) and a few blank slots for any new pictures. All the other gifts were either decorations he could use for his new room at Amy's place (she'd had two guest bedrooms before, now she had one), or practical things, like Amy and Knuckles had given him. Either that, or lessons. Espio had offered to teach him some ninja stuff, like how to go invisible. Sonic had mentioned that he thought only chameleons could do that, Espio's reply was that if only chameleons were ninjas, the ninja community wouldn't be such an interesting place.

After all the presents had been given (Sonic had darted forward to give his to Iltinis, and Iltinis flinched, like he had earlier, but this time Sonic didn't get attacked), there was cake and ice cream. Bark was surprisingly good at making sponge cake, so they had one with strawberries and cream on it (no, not the rabbit). There was only one candle on it, but Iltinis didn't mind. He just blew it out, then Dark Gaia momentarily took over and made him pluck the candle out of the cake and take a bite out of it. While Iltinis was trying not to gag, Dark Gaia used Charmy as a mouthpiece again. "Wax is interesting! Why don't you like the taste Iltinis?"

"Maybe because it's horrible and disgusting to me?"

"Hmm, well everyone's tastes are different I guess. Maybe Charmy should try some?"

"NO!"

While everyone else argued over what movie they should watch (Shadow voted for Fantastic Planet. Not the one Disney made, the one with blue aliens, tiny people, and an ant-eater like creature that eats the people), Amy went over to Iltinis, who was standing by the window. "Hey, enjoying your party?" He nodded. "Then what's wrong?"

"It feels.... weird. I feel like they're going to attack me, but at the same time, I know they won't. And...." Amy had put a finger to his lips.

"Iltinis, you're still feeling guilty aren't you?" He nodded. She smiled. "Close your eyes, maybe this will make you feel better." He did as she said, wondering what she could possibly.... the thought was cut off as she kissed him. He was vaguely aware of Dark Gaia hooting in the back of his mind and saying that this was an experience even better than dizziness, but most of his mind was occupied with trying to memorize every moment of the kiss.... his first kiss.

Rouge and Sonic whistled. "Amy sure can kiss!" Said Rouge, giving Knuckles a meaningful look. He went red (more than he normally is at least).

"What do you want bat-girl?"

"Oh you know what...."

"Rouge, knock it off, you're making him uncomfortable," said Shadow. Knuckles gave him a grateful look as Rouge pouted. Amy and Iltinis were completely oblivious, they didn't even notice when Dark Gaia (through Charmy) took a picture. When they finally broke apart, Iltinis and Amy having their arms wrapped around each other, Dark Gaia cheerfully remarked that that was one of the best show he'd ever seen.

Without a word, Amy pulled out her hammer, walked over to Charmy, and whacked him. Seeing as Dark Gaia was in control, he felt it instead of Charmy. "Hey! I was telling the truth!"

"Shut up."

"So you're a couple?" Asked Rouge, winking at Iltinis to imply that she remembered their earlier conversation in the car. Iltinis nodded. "Great! When you decide to get married, let me know and I'll set everything up for you. I wonder what your kids will look like?"

"HEY!" Iltinis was blushing like mad, and so was Amy.

"Rouge!" The pink hedgehog yelled.

"What? I was just wondering!"

**Hurray! I updated in a semi-quick manner! So do you think this should be the end of the story, or should I add a chapter that has "a year later" or something like that, which would be the starting point for a sequel, seeing as I want to write one for this, which would involve something along the lines of...**

**Finitevus: *clamps hand over CrazyNutSquirrel's mouth* Shut up! No spoilers, no spoilers!**

**Whatever! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it got stranger than I originally intended it to be, and sorry that there wasn't a lot of detail with the kissing (if you wanted detail). R&R please.**


	14. Chapter 14

Around five months later...

Iltinis's head was spinning, he was going to get married to Amy Rose! Dark Gaia realized that he wasn't going to be able to pay attention to what was going on for quite awhile, so he said he'd take care of getting Iltinis to move at the right times and things like that. Iltinis agreed, seeing the sense in that, he already had this extremely foolish grin on his face.

When Amy was finally beside him, she couldn't stop the giggles at the look on Iltinis's face. Dark Gaia rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, knowing that Iltinis was too busy to do so. '_Feel anticipation more often_,' said Dark Gaia.

'_Sure, sure_...' said Iltinis absently. While the priest spoke, Iltinis spent his time either looking at Amy, or staring past the stained glass windows with a smile on his face. Dark Gaia made him say what was necessary, but when it came to kissing the bride....

'_Quick! I have no experience with kissing_!'

'_What are you talking about_?'

'_You're supposed to kiss the bride now_!'

'_OH_!' This little conversation took place in just a few seconds, so he turned and kissed Amy, hugging her to himself. When they were in the limo, on their way to Club Rouge (which was closed for the day, they were going to celebrate there and they couldn't have customers coming in and interrupting), Amy burst out laughing.

"Okay what was going on with you back at the church?"

"Err..."

"Dark Gaia kept you on track didn't he?" she asked, amused. He blushed and nodded. The only response to that was a kiss on the cheek. "Did you know that Eggman is going to be at the party too?"

"What?!"

"Don't worry! Everything is okay, he's just there to annoy the heck out of Sonic, seeing as he's got no fan-girl to chase him around all the time anymore." Iltinis growled.

"I still don't like it."

"Oh come on! If you transform while we're there you'll ruin your suit! And that would be a shame, seeing as you look so nice in it," Iltinis chuckled.

"What is it with you and making sure I don't ruin my clothing?"

"I don't know......"

"I bet you made sure that if I transform, this suit won't tear."

"You haven't even known me for too long and you can already guess things like that correctly!" They were in the middle of a kiss when the door was opened by Sonic, who whistled.

"I know you're in love and all, but seriously, couldn't you have waited until you were outside the car? We can't take pictures when you're in here!" Inside everything was decorated. Roses, food, and drink (there are kids at that party, so no "drinks") spilled from every available surface. Rouge was grinning like a maniac.

"I hope you don't mind, but I let Shadow pick the music, I told him no male artists, seeing as the only ones he knows have songs that I don't think are appropriate for a wedding celebration." At that moment, they discovered that Shadow had had something up his quills (it can't be up his sleeve, because he doesn't have one (it would have been the first place Rouge would look), and it can't be up his arm, because he doesn't write things on his skin).

The song the black anti-hero had chosen was called "Bang Bang You're Dead" by Hannah Georgas. Rouge and Amy exchanged a glance. "Excuse me for a moment Iltinis."

"Sure," he said in a subdued voice. Some of the lyrics were making him feel guilty about what had gone on around the "Finitevus incident" as they called it. Shadow had gone back in time and recorded the whole beating up of Finitevus, which they were going to watch later. The song abruptly changed to "Love Hangover" by Associates. Amy came back looking very satisfied.

"Minor technical problems," she said. Iltinis knew enough about her to translate this to "I told Shadow that if he didn't change the song, he was going to get a beating worse than the one Finitevus got". He nodded.

"So, what do we do first?"

"First? First we get something to eat, get given presents by well-wishers, and then vote on a movie to watch!"

"I thought we were watching the movie with Finitevus getting beaten up?"

"That was a recording, and it's not long enough! After the movie everyone's gonna dance." Iltinis started feeling mildly anxious, which is putting it lightly. He was having a full-blown panic attack inside. He didn't know how to dance!

'_I'll take care of you, you forget, I've been alive for every single different world that's come about. What style of dancing did you want? Dinosaur dance? Whale_?'

'_One that isn't going to require me looking stupid_.' Dark Gaia pouted, seeing as that cancelled out most of the ones he had in mind.

'_Why not some sort of ballroom thingy where you just sway from side to side, one arm around her, and holding one of her hands? That's slow, easy, and doesn't require much thought, not that you'll have to worry about it, seeing as I'll take care of everything for you_!'

"Come on!" Amy took his wrist and dragged him towards the tables.

When it was all over, Iltinis felt very good. They weren't going to go on a honeymoon, mainly because Amy wanted to stay by her friends, and Iltinis said that time with Amy was the best holiday for him. She'd laughed and kissed him. The movie they had watched had been called "Enter the Dragon" starring Bruce Lee. Any guesses for who voted for that? (Here's a hint: One was black, one was dark blue, another was a lighter shade of blue, and one was red.)

Amy sat beside him on the couch and rubbed his hand with her thumb, going over the simple band of gold that was his wedding ring. He smiled at her, hers was gold too, but Rouge had insisted on making sure that there was a capital "i" made with sapphires, and a capital "r" made with rubies on it. They didn't do anything like that with Iltinis's, and he couldn't remember why, he'd been too busy enjoying the feeling of having Amy in his arms. "Got plans for tomorrow?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I'm tired, let's go to bed."

_Flashback:_

"You gonna have kids?" Iltinis mentally told Dark Gaia to shut up.

"Yes Dark Gaia, we're going to have kids. I'd prefer it if you left us alone for tonight, thank you very much." Dark Gaia grumbled, but left. Iltinis sighed. "Amy?"

"Yes?"

"I'm... scared."

"About what?"

"I might hurt you."

"Don't worry, you won't."

_End flashback._

The next day, Iltinis realized that any panic he had felt before was not real panic. No, _this_ was panic. Tails had started helping him get used to being on a plane, and had been helping him learn to drive. Today though, Tails had had to go and attend a meeting, so Shadow had volunteered to teach him. '_Next time Shadow is going to teach you, bring a watermelon_,' advised Dark Gaia.

'_Why_?!' Iltinis screamed in his head as they barely missed running over a pedestrian.

'_Because then you can have it on your lap, and it will take the force of the air bag for you. You can never trust those things, they could be full of poison_.'

'_How would you know? You've never been in anyone who's driving a car before_!'

'_True....._' Then Dark Gaia started using Charmy (who was in the back seat) to talk. "Iltinis, shouldn't you turn on the radio?"

"How can the radio help me?!"

"It's not to help you! I want to hear the radio! I heard that Three Days Grace is going to be playing on it today! They are an awesome band, and their music should help you out." Shadow swore and leaned over, turning the steering wheel, and preventing them from ramming into a lamp-post.

"I thought you knew how to drive!"

"I don't know everything! And the fact that you made sure my foot would be pressing the gas pedal all the way down doesn't help!"

"Are you feeling nauseous?"

"Sort of, why?"

"Put a puppy on your stomach."

"Why?"

"It might help. Or maybe that was peppermint...?"

"BRAKES!" Yelled Shadow. Iltinis gladly stepped on them and they squealed to a halt, partly because of the brakes, partly because of Knuckles holding on to the car, and partly because Shadow wrenched Iltinis's foot off the gas pedal.

"Never glue it onto the pedal again," said Iltinis after staggering out of the car and vomiting. Knuckles had been on his way to see Amy, but had realized that the car might need a little help with stopping. Shadow smirked.

"You've got to learn how to drive at high speed, in case you need to escape."

"Why would I need to know that?"

"Because, we already know that on the night of the full moon, you're trapped in your hedgewolf form all day, morning and night. You can't move as fast as you can in hedgehog form, and you might need to go faster than your hedgewolf body can."

"That reminded me, I wanted to ask you something Shadow," said Dark Gaia/Charmy, flying out of the car.

"Yes?"

"Why on earth do you need to drive?" Silence, then Shadow shrugged.

"I really don't know. I suppose I enjoy driving."

"Just cars?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did I see you driving a tank yesterday?" Shadow grinned.

"It's useful to know how to drive different things."

"Hey Shadow, didn't you use a tank when the Black Arms attacked?"

"Yes, it was very interesting, killing them with a tank." Dark Gaia suddenly burst out laughing.

"Now I get what that memory was! When there were the aliens, I was in the mind of a human soldier, and he heard you saying something like 'Must kill with car'. Of course, it was a lot louder than that, and you were freaking mad when you said it. Mainly because there was an alien that you couldn't reach with the tank." Knuckles and Iltinis exchanged a glance.

"'Must kill with car'?" They echoed.

That night, after writing about his day in the diary Amy insisted he keep, he paused, then flipped back through a couple of months to the day his first birthday had been celebrated. He re-read the entry about Sonic, not sure why he did so.

_At my party, everyone gave me gifts that would be useful, or that would help me decorate my room. None of them were to represent memories, or in the case of Sonic's gift, apologies. He asked me to open it after the party, so when I got back here to Amy's, I opened it while in my room. Inside was a snow globe that had all of "the gang" in it. There was also a note attached to it. "Hey Iltinis, uh.... I hope you like the snow globe, I got it specially made. It's not too hard when you're a hero. You're at the front of the group, both of your forms, mainly because this is supposed to help you remember the good times. Ah, I'm no good at this sort of stuff, I'm sounding all weird now. What I wanted to say is that I'm sorry about the way I treated you around the start, I'm sorry about the times I acted like a jerk... I'm sorry for everything I've done wrong to you really. I hope you can forgive me. I'm at the back so that you can remember that I feel sorry. At least, I hope that's what it symbolizes to you, if not, oh well. I hope we can have a race sometime, and get to know each other better, gotta go now, your party's about to start and I wouldn't want to be late!_

_Sonic". _

_It felt... strange, reading an apology from him. His note actually prompted me to examine the snow globe more closely. Sonic was at the back, he had a half-smile on his face, but something about his eyes said that he was apologetic. I was at the front, my hedgehog form, with my hedgewolf form behind me; both were smiling. Amy was beside me, her hammer over her shoulder, looking ready for anything, and loving. Cream was standing on my other side, with Cheese in her arms. Rouge had a hand on her shoulder. And so it went, going back in either the order I met them, or on how important they were to me, according to Sonic. I smiled slightly when I saw Knuckles beside Rouge, glaring at her as his hand placed protectively on the Master Emerald._

Iltinis sighed through his nose. He knew why he was reading it, even if he didn't want to fully acknowledge it. It was for the same reason he had read it every night since he'd written it, even if he hadn't realized what that reason was until now. It was because part of him still hated Sonic, even though he accepted the blue hedgehog as a friend and ally.

He kept on reading it to prove to himself that Sonic was a friend, and that there wasn't any excuse to hate Sonic anymore. And then there was also the fact that he kept on feeling the need to remember that his friends wouldn't abandon him. It was why he would stare long and hard at his snow globe for ten minutes at a time, which sometimes made him late for appointments he had, or events he had to go to. Iltinis placed his diary on the bedside table. "Iltinis?" He looked up.

Amy stood in the doorway, looking concerned. "Yes Amy?" She hesitated for a moment, she knew what he'd been doing, he'd told her about rereading the diary entry about a week afterwards.

"Are you alright?" He nodded. "Okay." She came into the room and sat down on the bed beside him. "I kinda asked Tails about.... you know, kids." He nodded, and put an arm around her, telling her wordlessly to continue. "He said that.... that we're going to have some," she smiled at him. "You're going to be a father." He stared at her, stunned.

"But.... but what if I mess up?" He asked anxiously. She smiled and rested her head on his chest, listening to his steady, thumping heartbeat.

"You won't, you'll be a wonderful father. Me on the other hand.... I don't think I'd be a good mother."

"Why ever not?! You are an amazing person Amy! I'm sure you'll be the best mother ever! How can you..."

"I'll make a deal with you, agree that you'll do your best to be a good father, and I'll agree to do my best to be a good mother, and we won't mention possibly being bad at it again, okay?" Iltinis nodded slowly.

"Alright. How long do we have until the kids come?" She laughed.

"They should be here in the spring." Iltinis lay back on the bed, with her head still on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Alright, I'll do my best Amy." She nodded. They lay there for awhile, just enjoying each other's company. The phone rang eventually, so Amy went to get it. While she did, Iltinis opened his diary again and added to the end of his entry: _I'm going to be a father in spring._

Elsewhere......

Finitevus scowled and typed furiously, but the results always came up the same. "Damn it!" He growled, the tests were going wrong! And to cap it off, that pesky red echidna was going to be here soon to throw him off the island, yelling about his dead father. The kid was too attached to Locke, how did that even happen? Made to believe his father is dead when he's young, having to grow up on his own and learn on his own, being the last echidna on Mobius for awhile..... and then discovering his father is alive, and that he never tried to let him know? How could he still love that guy so much?

And Locke had ruined Finitevus's plans before, oh yes he had... he'd lifted the hex on the Master Emerald that kept Enerjak under his control, and then he got the cursed Emerald to change him back to normal! The Prime zone had too many problems, it's world needed to be cleansed with emerald fire. He had been so close too. If only he could create a trap that would actually hold the red echidna long enough for him to figure out how to transport himself back to the zone where that hedgewolf lived. "I will come back for you Iltinis Jarnhand. You can count on it. And when I do, the world you know will cease to exist," he snarled. Of course, this would have been a little more impressive if he had that front tooth he'd lost.

He was going to be having a gold one put in soon, but for now, he was stuck looking like an idiot. He could hear the distant crashing that announced Knuckles's arrival, he was probably with his Chaotix friends. "Time to go," whispered Finitevus, opening a warp ring and stepping through it, pulling his brief case that had all his plans in it with him.

**FINISHED! I hope you liked it. :) There is going to be a sequel, there will be three kids for Iltinis and Amy (triplets! How delightful!), plus two other characters. The two other characters are vampires of a sort, they feed off emotions and feelings (like dizziness). If you've got some suggestions for names, please give them to me via review! I'm always open to suggestions for my stories. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: FINALLY it's over! *falls over with relief***

**Finitevus: Seeing as that useless hedgehog who calls himself Disclaimer is too lazy to do it, I shall do the proper disclaimer for you.**

**Disclaimer: Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!**

**Finitevus: CrazyNutSquirrel doesn't own any of the characters except Iltinis. SEGA owns them, even though she wishes that she did (if she did I would probably become some character with a horribly weak personality that involves fluffy bunnies and lollipops). Love Hangover is owned by Associates, and Bang Bang You're Dead is owned by Hannah Georgas. Three Days Grace obviously own themselves.**

**Sorry if Sonic was a little OOC in his note, and sorry if you were expecting a lot more glamorous than a snow globe. It seemed to just fit though, a picture wouldn't have expressed it (besides, they don't have a picture of the whole gang, and it would be impossible to get a picture that had both Iltinis the hedgehog and Iltinis the hedgewolf in it), and nothing else I could think of would have. For awhile I played around with the idea of having Sonic give Iltinis a fang that was knocked out of his mouth while in werehog form, though I'm not sure what the significance would have been. Anyway, I'm trying to think of a title for the sequel, and any suggestions for that would also be welcome! R&R please, and I hope you enjoyed this story!**


	15. Author note

Hello readers! I have decided to rewrite this story, so this version will be discontinued. However, I will leave it up because I like the reviews and they might give me ideas for the new version. :) So the new version has the same title, but it has REWRITE at the end. Sentimento and Senzace receive name changes as well, seeing as some people would get the two mixed up *cough*me*cough*. For the new version, I have also figured out who the Puppet Master is, so I think I'll be able to write him better. The first chapter of the new version is up, and I'm planning the second. I hope you enjoy it!

P.S. I'm also rewriting it in the hopes that I can make it a suitable sequel for Iron Hands and Fragile Roses, instead of something that feels like a rush job.


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